The comment does well in providing context and arguments.

Lets go back to the closest thing we have for requirements for this editor…Default CLI Editor - Feature Exploration!. This discussion was based on the current state of windows and was not concerned with UNIX.

Being a simple text editor, it should not hallucinate, it should not add text one did not type, it should not change the text that was typed. If the user typed a tab character, it was because the user wanted a tab character. If you want four spaces then type four spaces.

edit should by default work like the original namesake and not hallucinate or add characters that were not typed or make assumptions.

Where do you draw the line on “smart” features? Tab should not add indent spaces? Encoding or newline mechanisms? Determining EOF newline?

  • KissakiOP
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    6 days ago

    and use CRLF (on Windows) for newlines with at most a setting to configure it in the editor for that session

    How would you handle text files with LF newlines being opened on Windows? Recognize and use LF too? Write CRLF on newly added lines? Save everything as CRLF, effectively transforming all LF?

    • TehPers@beehaw.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      6 days ago

      I would expect it to use CRLF (on Windows) for all new newlines unless I tell it otherwise. It shouldn’t try to be smart about it. It should just do exactly what I tell it to do and nothing more.

      • Jade
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        5 days ago

        That wouldn’t be what I would expect. Having mixed new lines in a file is generally a bad thing - the editor should pick one mode