emacs-lisp-docstring-fill-column: Why?

[Drew Adams]

emacs-lisp-docstring-fill-column is either the Elisp manual or the
Emacs manual.

Why does this variable exist? Doesn't buffer-local variable
fill-column do everything that is needed? Shouldn't users just be able
to set fill-column in an Emacs-Lisp buffer and have that DTRT (even do
what emacs-lisp-docstring-fill-column does, if that is superior)?

I was surprised, and other users will also be surprised (and annoyed?)
to find that `C-u C-x f' does not affect M-q in Emacs-Lisp doc
strings.


In GNU Emacs 22.0.50.1 (i386-msvc-nt5.1.2600)
 of 2006-07-19 on BOS-CTHEWLAP2
X server distributor `Microsoft Corp.', version 5.1.2600
configured using `configure --with-msvc (12.00)'

Important settings:
  value of $LC_ALL: nil
  value of $LC_COLLATE: nil
  value of $LC_CTYPE: nil
  value of $LC_MESSAGES: nil
  value of $LC_MONETARY: nil
  value of $LC_NUMERIC: nil
  value of $LC_TIME: nil
  value of $LANG: ENU
  locale-coding-system: cp1252
  default-enable-multibyte-characters: t

Major mode: Dired by name

Minor modes in effect:
  encoded-kbd-mode: t
  tooltip-mode: t
  tool-bar-mode: t
  mouse-wheel-mode: t
  menu-bar-mode: t
  file-name-shadow-mode: t
  global-font-lock-mode: t
  font-lock-mode: t
  blink-cursor-mode: t
  unify-8859-on-encoding-mode: t
  utf-translate-cjk-mode: t
  auto-compression-mode: t
  line-number-mode: t

Recent input:
<help-echo> <help-echo> <help-echo> <help-echo> <help-echo>
<help-echo> <menu-bar> <help-menu> <report-emacs-b
ug>

Recent messages:
(C:\Emacs-22-2006-07-19-Fran\bin\emacs.exe -q --no-site-file --debug-init
C:\drews-lisp-20)
Loading encoded-kb...done
For information about the GNU Project and its goals, type C-h C-p.
Loading dired...
Loading regexp-opt...done
Loading dired...done
Loading emacsbug...done