Re: asm-mode patch to allow per-file comment character setting from file locals

[Alastair Houghton]

On 12 Jun 2006, at 23:58, David Kastrup wrote:

> Alastair Houghton <address@hidden> writes:
>
> > On 12 Jun 2006, at 14:12, David Kastrup wrote:
> >
> > > Files set from a file local variables block are made buffer-local,
> > > anyway.
> >
> > Which isn't stated in the Elisp info documentation (which I *did*
> > read),
>
> File local variable blocks are not documented in the Elisp manual at
> all.  They are a user-level feature.

*My* copy of the Elisp manual has a node entitled "File Local  
Variables".
It seems to me that that should be the documentation for file local  
variables
from an Elisp perspective.

> I'll leave replying to you to others in future.

That's your prerogative, of course.

On 12 Jun 2006, at 23:58, Thien-Thi Nguyen wrote:
> Alastair Houghton <address@hidden> writes:
>
> > I'm happy to admit that I missed that part of the documentation,
> > though I'm don't appreciate the undertone of cheekiness in your
> > last remark, particularly not from someone with a gnu.org e-mail
> > address.  Maybe it wasn't intended that way, but that's how it
> > came across.
>
> what do you expect from people w/ a gnu.org e-mail address?  what
> does that expectation have to do w/ not reading the docs properly?

What I expect is that people with gnu.org addresses (who represent  
the FSF,
right?) should be being polite to people who are trying to contribute  
to an FSF
project.  If I'm wrong or have misunderstood something, or have  
missed something
in the docs, I don't mind being told that, but I also don't see why I  
should
put up with remarks I perceive as cheeky given that I'm giving my  
time (and/or
my employer's time) for free.  I don't think that's an unreasonable  
expectation.

If it was not a gnu.org address, that's different because you don't  
have any
control over them and they don't represent the FSF.

(BTW, I'm not certain that David's remark was intended to be cheeky,  
but equally
I'm not altogether certain that it wasn't.  I wasn't really planning  
on starting
a discussion about it either.)

> if the docs are unclear to you in some way, please explain how so.

I think the Elisp manual's node (the larger of the two nodes that  
discuss
file locals) should explicitly state that they are automatically made  
buffer
local.  If it had done, I'd probably have seen it.  The node in the  
Emacs manual
is very short and looks like a menu node with an introduction, rather  
than actual
documentation per se.

Don't misunderstand; the fault here is mine, I should have read it  
more carefully.

Kind regards,

Alastair.

--
http://www.alastairs-place.net