RE: How to make Emacs popular again: Use monospaced fonts less

[Drew Adams]

> > > We cannot just switch to variable-pitch font and leave the rest
> > > unchanged.
> > > Using a variable-pitch font will cause an annoying horizontal movement of
> > > the mode-line stuff when some parts change.
> >
> > Never bothered me even a tiny bit.
> 
> So I guess you won't be sending bug reports about it.  But someone
> else would, and the measures to avoid that up front are so easy I
> don't see why we are arguing.

My 2 cents about this -

1. I don't think we should use `align-to' etc., at all.
   That would be even more disruptive, e.g., it might
   interfere with user mode-line customizations.

   Whereas it's easy for a user to add, change, or
   remove attributes of face `mode-line', it's not so
   easy for a user to try to second-guess or make
   adjustments for whatever you might do wrt ensuring
   alignment.

2. Having tried Lars's suggestion, I find the effect
   good overall.

3. Should it really be on by default?  Dunno.  Typically
   to make something like this the default we'd have lots
   of people already using it by their own customizations.

   Though the mode-line is not easy to customize in
   general, it's trivial to change its face.  Do we have
   lots of users who use a variable-pitch font for it now?

I'm going to start using this, myself.  Dunno whether
I'll stick with it, but so far it seems good.

How bothersome it might be for some parts of the line
content to move left or right is personal, I think.

Personally, I'm not bothered by it.  And the mode-line
parts don't have to be aligned with anything else in
Emacs, AFAIK.