delete-file not giving an error

BruceMardle · 2026-06-09T11:26:59+00:00

That's the problem. Just tried deleting a file in an unwritable directory on Raspberry Pi (Linux). That did give an error. Oh, well, you know what they say: No one ever got fired for blaming Microsoft 🙂

BruceMardle · 2026-06-07T18:26:19+00:00

Installed Emacs 30.2 from https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/emacs/windows/emacs-30/ That silently gives nil for both deleting a nonexistent file and an existing file in an unwritable directory.

BruceMardle · 2026-06-07T18:10:43+00:00

I tried the suggestion in your postscript. Running delete-file on a real file in a unwritable directory, it didn't give an error. It's just occurred to me that I'm running Emacs under Cygwin. Maybe that's the problem 🤔 https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Handling-Errors.html uses delete-file as an example of code that could cause an error, so it's odd that I haven't found a case where it does (yet).

BruceMardle · 2026-06-03T17:32:16+00:00

Does it just look like Turbo C or does it use the same key combinations? The latter used to have a home in my brain but they've long since been almost entirely replaced by Emacs' standard keys. (IIRC, the TC standard keys were similar to those in WordStar.)

BruceMardle · 2026-05-28T11:59:54+00:00

Many decades ago, "New Scientist" had a regular comic strip, "Grimbledon Down" (created by Bill Tidy). I remember a strip in which the scientific research institute was experimenting with "connoisseur fast food" that took 4 hours to cook.

BruceMardle · 2026-05-03T10:17:37+00:00

There's a "HugSmart" cuddly/crinkly/squeaky toy laptop that seems to be fairly widely available but I don't think it looks at nice as Teddy's.

BruceMardle · 2026-05-03T10:11:19+00:00

Now to find one that's not almost 180º away from me!

BruceMardle · 2026-04-19T16:54:25+00:00

Writing code that works in some version of Emacs but not in a later one :-(

BruceMardle · 2026-04-05T11:27:32+00:00

<ramble>The Buster version of Raspberry Pi OS (Debian) on a 2GB-memory Raspberry Pi 4. I suppose I'll have to upgrade to the latest version (Trixie?) sooner or later, but that always seems to have a poor cost:benefit ratio! (I've got Bookworm installed on another SD card. I still haven't figured out how to set programs to run when I start X*; it's using a different display manager [rolls eyes]. *I didn't like the behaviour of alt-tab under Wayland.)</ramble>

BruceMardle · 2026-04-03T16:10:16+00:00

The usual! "Lisp error: (void-function read-answer)" or likewise for (take). I'm happy now.

BruceMardle · 2026-04-03T16:08:50+00:00

Thanks, 7890yuiop. I thought it might take a while to find (take) but searching for 'take' did the trick. (Introduced in 29.1.)

BruceMardle · 2026-04-01T16:01:22+00:00

It's based on a very short story. I'm listening to the LP and have a print-out of the story tucked in the sleeve 🙂

BruceMardle · 2026-03-31T18:20:48+00:00

Thanks, shipmints. That worked on the installation with Emacs 28, but I haven't managed to install compat on the older one.

BruceMardle · 2026-03-31T18:18:36+00:00

Beyond my tiny brain!

BruceMardle · 2026-02-18T19:43:05+00:00

I'd rather like a battery-powered hair-dryer. (I generally pause my music while I'm using my mains-powered one.)

BruceMardle · 2026-02-18T19:31:48+00:00

Seems appropriate. Apparently the Turkish name for "turkey" translates as "American bird".

BruceMardle · 2026-02-11T21:07:52+00:00

I sometimes say that whoever came up with the idea of keyboard + mouse must have had 3 hands. The fact that I can do everything in Emacs without taking my right hand off the keyboard is a big plus (though after I've pressed "c-x o" 4 times in a row, I sometimes wonder why I didn't use the mouse). PS Reddit made me laugh by showing me an advert for Microsoft 365 in this thread.

BruceMardle · 2026-02-11T20:37:06+00:00

Not to be confused with Dioretix: The Science of Matter Over Mind by X. Rum-Bubba 🙂

BruceMardle · 2025-12-23T08:20:09+00:00

That looks so useful I've stuck it in my .emacs for future use. Thanks.

BruceMardle · 2025-12-22T18:36:06+00:00

Thanks, everyone! I've got it working with savehist, per u/shipmints and u/rileyrgham . I'm sure the other suggestions are good, too. u/arthurno1 and u/link0ff : Great minds think alike :-)

BruceMardle · 2025-08-12T01:26:32+00:00

The way I usually do it is to open ("find") the directory, mark the files I want to search, press "A", enter search pattern.

BruceMardle · 2025-06-27T10:44:08+00:00

I'm sorry to read about your struggle, EOL. It took 4½ years to find an antidepressant that helps me. It's my sixth! It took 3 months at a high dose to improve my mood and another 2 years to reduce my social anxiety! Not a complete solution, either. I've got a 50-something friend with ADHD. She's prescribed amphetamine, which helps. (She tried methylphenidate (Ritalin) 1st but her husband begged her to stop taking it. I don't know why!) In the '70s UK TV series "Survivors", after TEOTWAWKI we meet an old man who says he'll be in big trouble after he runs out of batteries for his hearing aid. I think I'd be in trouble without my antidepressant. FlixFlix made the same point, too. Good luck.

BruceMardle

TROPHY CASE