Because it becomes one more maintenance task we don't need.
There should be nothing to maintain, if it's done right.
The linux kernel is a mess. There are a couple of hundred files with inconssistent mode lines. Most have none (and there are thousands).
So it sounds like they could benefit from a tool that ensured that they would be kept consistent, and so that when it was decided that changes needed to be made, the single tool (likely a 20-line Perl program) would take care of it.
So we're hardly alone in not doing it the way you're suggesting.
Sure, and I'm sure there are plenty of projects that do use them to great effect, most notably Perl 5 and Parrot. Perl 5 specifically has had the mish-mosh of tabs-vs-spaces reduced by the addition of modelines.
xoa -- Andy Lester => a...@petdance.com => www.theworkinggeek.com => AIM:petdance -- Sent via pgsql-hackers mailing list (pgsql-hackers@postgresql.org) To make changes to your subscription: http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-hackers
