Re: alt-tab? really? you're joking...

[Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org>]

Hikaru Ichijyo <ichijyo@macross.sdf.jp> writes:

> It seems that the key binding for name completion is M-TAB.  That's
> just...amazing.  Really.  The fact that Emacs and BBDB come from a
> UNIX-centric world doesn't begin to explain that, since MS-Windows is
> not the only platform where that's used for windows switching.

M-TAB is used for completion in dozens other places in emacs.

> What's the typical way Gnus users get around this these days?

You have 3 options:

  a) Use `ESC TAB' instead of `M-TAB'.
  b) Use some other key as Meta, e.g., the windows key commonly found on
     keyboards.
  c) Use another key for window manager window handling.

I go with option c) and use the windows key for that.  The reason is
that Alt is better to type and I use emacs keys much more often than
window manager shortcuts.

> Really...even in the 1990's, in the days of HPUX/CDE workstations and
> Motif X11 toolkits...Alt-Tab?  Really?  When was that ever a good idea
> for an application key binding?

Not sure, but I guess emacs used M-TAB for completion purposes even
before that.

Bye,
Tassilo