Re: [RFC PATCH 3/3] FAQ: sync newuser-install

[Vincent Lefevre <vincent@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On 2022-09-02 09:18:57 +0000, Daniel Shahaf wrote:
> Mikael Magnusson wrote on Fri, Sep 02, 2022 at 05:46:12 +0200:
> > On 9/2/22, Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > > It is unreasonable to force absolutely every new user to set these
> > > options just to get started.
> > 
> > "Paste these lines in .zshrc to enable history" is not more
> > complicated with 3 lines than 1, however much you want to argue that
> > it is. They still need to find the line(s) to copy in the first place
> > (or god forbid, read the documentation).
> 
> Copy-pasting three lines is as easy as one, sure.  /Understanding/ them,
> however, is a different kettle of fish.  If one has set three special
> variables, then one needs to read three zshparam(1) entries rather than
> one.

Isn't $SAVEHIST equal to $HISTSIZE in most configurations?

In such a case, couldn't a negative value for $SAVEHIST mean that
it should be regarded as SAVEHIST=$HISTSIZE (dynamically)?

Then I think that -1 could be the default value for SAVEHIST.
So only HISTFILE and HISTSIZE would be needed in the .zshrc,
and they are self-explanatory for the end user.

-- 
Vincent Lefèvre <vincent@xxxxxxxxxx> - Web: <https://www.vinc17.net/>
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Work: CR INRIA - computer arithmetic / AriC project (LIP, ENS-Lyon)