Re: Backspace direction reversion

>>>>> "Kyle" == Kyle Jones <kyle_jones(a)wonderworks.com&gt; writes: Kyle> Martin Buchholz writes: >> >>>>> "SL" == SL Baur <steve(a)xemacs.org&gt; writes: >> SL> My argument against is simple. The failure mode is catastrophic SL> in exactly the same way that we wanted to fix when we first got SL> into this. There are keyboards in the mule lab that XEmacs is SL> completely clueless to deal with[1]. With them, the big key SL> labeled "Delete" stops deleting backwards and in order to get a SL> delete backwards requires a shifted keystroke. >> >> What bugs me most about this argument is that Steve describes as >> `catastrophic' a situation where a user would have to use a modifier >> key (e.g. `Fn') to delete backwards, yet... a user who currently might >> want to delete forwards currently must ALWAYS use a modifier key, >> i.e. Ctrl+D. How exactly is this different? Kyle> The keys are used differently. Chars are deleted backward Kyle> typically as an integral part of entering text. You type "teh" Kyle> instead of "the", tap backspace a couple of times, fix it and Kyle> keep typing. Forward deletes typically occur when text is being Kyle> proofed and edited after being entered. This is a different Kyle> typing dynamic. I agree that the BackSpace and Delete keys are often used in the way you describe, but I don't understand how this affects the argument. It is also true that the `=' character is much more likely to be used during initial text input than subsequent text editing, when compared to the use of the Delete key, but I don't see why the usage pattern makes a difference to our keybinding strategy.