[Bug 62140] Pleave remove Insert (INS) / Overwrite (OVR) modes

[Jason Gerard DeRose]

Public bug reported:

I must have tripped up onto my interface soapbox tonight... ;)

So here is another gedit interface opinion: the Insert/ Overwrite  modes
should be removed and gedit should always behave as if it is in what was
formerly known as the Insert mode.  Here is my rational:

1) The INS/OVR mode is just that... a mode, always questionable if not
bad in interface design, something which should never be included
without a very good reason.

2) The INS/OVR mode is apparently totally worthless, certainly not
passing the exception above.  I've never found it even moderately useful
to use OVR, nor have I ever observed anyone else doing so.  If someone
has a compelling case otherwise, I'm all ears.

3) On most keyboards, the INS key is near the HOME, END, PAGE UP, and
PAGE DOWN keys, which are all used fairly frequently.  I code with
gedit, and it seems that at least a few times an hour I hit INS by
mistake, type over a good number of characters that I did not intent to,
realize that I'm now in *that* mode, and then waste time yell
obscenities and correcting my mistake.

4) We can take a good lead from Apple who uses this key as something
potentially useful: the HELP key.  I think the INS/OVR modes are crufty
leftovers anyway and not something people actually expect to be there,
just something that annoys and confuses them if they switch to OVR by
mistake.  Firefox, which I'm writing this with, doesn't do any such
nonsense... and I doubt anyone has ever complained about this lack of
"functionality".

Thanks! Happy hacking!

** Affects: gedit (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Untriaged
         Status: Unconfirmed

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Pleave remove Insert (INS) / Overwrite (OVR) modes
https://launchpad.net/bugs/62140