Re: [Various] Backspace direction reversion

SL> [Whatever the outcome, it *must* go through due process and we're SL> doing that now. Thanks to everyone who has commented.] Martin> No. There are times when you have to stand up for a principle. Martin> Having the Backspace key delete forwards by default is simply not Martin> acceptable. To me. It has to go. Oops. I braino'ed in that paragraph. Perhaps I've already fried too many brain cells on this topic. Let me try again. The issue at hand is, what should XEmacs do, by default, if the user's keyboard has (according to Xlib) both a Delete key and a BackSpace key. Martin: The BackSpace key should delete backwards and the Delete key should delete forwards. The fact that there are non-standard keyboards that appear to have a BackSpace key that is only accessible by using a modifier key with the key labelled "Delete" should not influence this decision. Steve: The BackSpace key and the Delete key should both delete backwards. Ctrl-D is a perfectly fine keybinding for deleting forwards. The issues on tty and mswindows devices are similar, except that: - mswindows has less of a legacy of Delete deleting backwards. - it is harder to guess key labels of the key actually pressed by the user on tty devices than on X devices. Here is a Dennis Ritchie quote re: the C89 `noalias' feature: Noalias must go. This is non-negotiable. It must not be reworded, reformulated or reinvented. I feel similarily strongly about BackSpace/Delete. If there are technical problems, I volunteer to work on fixing them. Of course, some technical problems, like determining with certainty what the user's keyboard actually looks like, cannot be solved. Martin