Re: POLL: the 40 variables project

[Carsten Dominik <dominik@science.uva.nl>]

Hi Friedrich,

On Jan 29, 2009, at 12:13 PM, Friedrich Delgado Friedrichs wrote:

> Hiho!

[...]

>> and got 378 as an answer.  378 user-customizable variables,
>> no kidding.
>
> You make this sound as if it was a bad thing... ;)

Not at all.  I am just surprized that it  sooo many.

>> In addition, I could make a special customization group which only
>> contains those variables (Emacs allows to put a variable into several
>> groups).  It would be awesome to have, and a much easier start into
>> customizing Org.
>
> Phew! For a second I thought you would jump on the 'gnome' train of
> thought that "too much configuration is bad, mmkay?" I feared that
> you'd intend to get rid of those customisation variables.

Nononono, de-scoping was last years April Fools Joke, and
it is not April just yet. :-)

> I'd hate to see that happen to any software project.
>
> I don't care what any usability experts say (self-proclaimed or not),
> I want to be able to change those settings. I tend to heavily
> customise just about every software that I use.

I also like a lot of customizability, but providing a ladder for new
users is a nice thing to do.

> However organising the most-often used variables seems like a good
> idea. It might also make a lot of sense to identify the values that
> people most often use to arrive at a more sensible set of defaults.

Yes.  There are some "buts" to the question of defaults, and majority
use cannot always be a reason.  When I decide about a default setting,
I use what I think is best, but subject to the condition that the
default behavior should be intuitive and easy to grasp, not too magic,
not too different from standard Emacs behavior.
Still, there may be cases where another setting meets all these  
criteria,
and I would like to find out about them.

Thanks for your detailed list!  I hope we will get lots more,
this exercise makes most sense if lots of people reply....

- Carsten