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> it almost appears that Emacs tries to be different for the sake of being different. Emacs conventions existed long before CUA became the standard and to ada
by least 5y ago
> it almost appears that Emacs tries to be different for the sake of being different.
Emacs conventions existed long before CUA became the standard and to adapt to CUA would require Emacs to change some very basic and critical conventions. There were plenty of word processors like Word Star that also featured its own conventions, just Word Star has mostly become an esoteric word processor while Emacs and Vim remain prevalent to this day (I mean... they're still esoteric but not that esoteric).
MacOS also has its own conventions that don't comply with the "standard" which of course, again, came after MacOS established its own standards and of which are superior to Windows, anyway, since it doesn't break compatibility with the unix terminal.
Maybe the real issue is Windows and Linux that decided to adopt the inferior conventions of the dominant OS?
- selfhoster11 5y agoJust because a control convention existed before other implementations, it doesn't automatically make it good. Plenty of older shooter games have a control scheme that besides being unfamiliar, is simply not ergonomic enough. E. g. Wolfenstein's control scheme that uses the mouse to rotate the camera, but also to move the player forwards and backwards.
- least 5y ago> Just because a control convention existed before other implementations, it doesn't automatically make it good. Conversely, just because CUA became the de facto standard in Windows and Linux doesn't make it good, either. They became standardized as a consequence of Windows becoming the most popular operating system and the only reason you're advocating for it is because it's what you are comfortable with, not because it has any meaningful advantages over other keyboard shortcut paradigms.
- selfhoster11 5y agoYes. My point is, Emacs convention and CUA are basically equivalent. In which case there is little excuse to go with the less popular one if you want to attract young blood without creating an obstacle course they must pass first. If you don't have young blood coming in occasionally, your editor will remain stagnant after a while.
- medstrom 5y agoI agree it wouldn't hurt to redesign for CUA, but I'm not sure how much young blood it would actually invite. Hotkeys are just the first thing on a long list of things to learn, and if that first thing puts them off, maybe they wouldn't have stuck with it anyway.