*scratch* buffer (was: A wish, a plea)

[David Reitter]

Here's what we do in Aquamacs. Perhaps this applies to all of Emacs:

`initial-major-mode' and `default-major-mode' default to `text-mode'.
We assume that most people want to write one or another form of text  
or code in some language other than elisp. Text-mode provides basic  
support for that. We are pretty sure that the majority of users  
doesn't know much elisp, and of those who know it, only a minority  
will use Emacs predominantly to configure or extend Emacs.

The initial message in the *scratch* buffer is not shown. We want its  
function to be self-evident. Users are not required to read text  
before they get going (most people, even newbies, presumably don't  
read it anyways).

I am also intending to make the *scratch* buffer persistent across  
sessions.
That way, users will not be bothered to give it a name and to  
explicitly save it. But they will retain its contents across crashes  
and intentional restarts. If the desktop is a good analogy: when I  
come into my office in the morning, all my scratch papers are still  
on my desk. Even in companies that operate a "clean desk policy", the  
cleaners are not instructed to throw away everything that's on  
people's desks at 7am. (Or do they?)