RE: [External] : Re: indent-tabs-mode default [was: Representation of the Emacs userbase on emacs-devel]

[Drew Adams]

> I work in a (partially) Java shop that mandates the use of tabs as
> indentation for all C-like languages (which is Java and C++, for the
> most part.), where one can get in trouble for checking-in code with
> inconsistent tabulation.
>
> Many of us also use Emacs, and I'm sure it would be quite a disruption
> for indent-tabs-mode to be made nil by default.

In my post that started this thread about
`indent-tabs-mode' default value, I said this:

  It's easy enough for some local use (e.g.
  following the standards of some organization)
  to customize the option to ON.  But that
  should no longer be the default, IMO.

Does that not apply to your context?

Not only an individual, but an organization
can have a need for either no-tabs, all-tabs,
or a mixture.  That is (should be, IIUC) easy
to do, no?

Likewise, for use in any particular context
(e.g. project, directory, etc.).

The default value for _Emacs itself_ is what
the current question is about.  It of course
needs to be easy for anyone and any group to
set the setting they need, for any context.

There's `site-lisp.el'.  There are individual
`custom.el' or init files.  There are mode
hooks.  There are (probably - not familiar)
project-wide hooks or settings via `project.el'
or Projectile or whatever.

Yes, if the Emacs default changed you or your
organization/project/site might need to add
a setting for it.



> As of late, our superiors have also been trying to convince us to move
> to NetBeans, from the current mix of Emacs and IntelliJ products.  If
> Emacs were found to be the culprit behind a large influx of bad code,
> it
> could potentially turn that from advice into a mandate, which doesn't
> quite appeal to me.