On Sun, Jul 26, 2026 at 17:13 (+0300), Valentin Nechayev wrote:
>> Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2026 08:40:25 -0300
>> From: Jim via Mutt-dev <[email protected]>
>> Way back when, before the pestilence known as Microsoft spread throughout
>> the world, the delete key deleted backwards, as it should.
> First, donʼt blame Microsoft; this was IBM who pushed its style of
> keyboard after XT/AT and AT-101 ones to standard, including such
> previously impossible thing as Selectric placement of non-alphanumeric
> keys. Microsoft was not strong enough yet in mis-1980s to make this.
Fair comment. But I will say that before I saw my first IBM PC (with MS
software on it) I had never seen a keyboard with "backspace" up in that
corner of the keyboard. (Well, with the possible exception of an APL
terminal; as you may know, in APL backspace didn't delete, because there
were some characters composed as <char 1><backspace><char 2>.)
> Second, as soon as we have standards (at least ANSI and ISO) which
> declare that the key up to Enter that deletes the character before the
> cursor is called "Backspace",
Huh. Evidently I've managed to use computers for more than 50 years
without running into these standard. (No doubt there are thousands of
other standards I haven't seen too.)
> and mutt follows this naming, we hardly can spit into the wind. (I also
> like idea of seven modifiers in Space Cadet, but shall fit into the
> existing Procrustean bed.
> So any variant but <delete> -> delete-forward will entail a constant
> repinement and regular rebellions to fit it into the least astonishment.
At least for people who grew up using IBM PCs.
>> Perhaps delete has been set to delete backwards because that is how people
>> not used to the M$ world had been using it forever?
> If your backspace key is called "Delete", Iʼm curious what you have
> for common "Delete".
On this particular laptop, there is a left-pointing arrow on the key which
I use to delete backwards (so it isn't called anything, in the sense of
having a word or abbreviation of a word on it). Above that there is a much
smaller key labelled "delete".
> Anyway, it is too late to revolt it back.
That may well be the case.
Jim
