Holger Schauer <schauer(a)coling.uni-freiburg.de> writes in xemacs-beta(a)xemacs.org:
>>>>> "sb" == SL Baur schrieb am 02 Apr 1999 01:49:37 -0800:
sb> ... I am not opposed to making it a default if it is installed
sb> (ie. by having it autoload initialization).
> IMHO, this would be another case that shows that XEmacs is starting
> to forget its multi-user roots [1].
Is this such a problem? The XEmacs user base has changed dramatically
over the last three years in favor of systems that are typically
single-user. If XEmacs/(95|98|00|NT) ever catches on, it will only
further this trend. I'm not expressing an opinion one way or another,
I'm just asking.
> What if a sysadmin would install that package on a single user's
> request - afterwards all 999 traditional users are stuck with these
> silly key bindings ?
That's a good point. Consider the suggestion dropped[1]. I've never
used XEmacs (or GNU Emacs) in a multiuser environment by the way --
twelve years and counting ...
...
> Footnotes:
> [1] I whole-heartly believe that the package-interface, as nice as it
> is, and as often as I use it, is another such case. No normal user
> should install packages, that should be a task left for the system
> adminstrator (and yes, I used "should" on purpose).
Agreed, but the package fetching UI is very new. There are no doubt
plenty of refinements to make. There is also nothing in the model
that forces system administrators to allow users to install lisp into
the common system directories. There's good reason to disallow it
even in single-user systems -- I'm pretty much the only user of my
development machine, but the `steve' account doesn't have write access
to anything system-wide.
Users have always been encouraged to install their own lisp. What
hasn't been possible has been for users to install their own lisp and
bind them as tightly to Emacs as the things the Emacs maintainers have
thrown at them. I see nothing wrong with allowing that.
Anyway, granting that "XEmacs is forgotting its multi-user roots" whether
or not this is in fact the case, my question is "What difference does it
make?" This is not a flame.
Footnotes:
[1] I plead temporary insanity and a bad case of jet lag.