RE: [External] : Re: completing-read depricated initial-input

[Drew Adams]

> what is INITIAL-INPUT? We have only heard of one
> use case (completion) and it isn't good enough.

The use case you're (apparently) thinking of has
nothing per se to do with completion.

Witness the fact that an INITIAL-INPUT arg
(UN-deprecated) is allowed for some read functions
- from specific such as `read-string' to general
such as `read-from-minibuffer' - that don't use
completion at all.

It's not only about completion.  And it's not only
about inserting a _prefix_ of text you might want
to enter.

Putting _anything_ in the minibuffer automatically,
whether it comes from an INITIAL-INPUT arg, or a
DEFAULT arg, or a global variable, or ... aims to
provide you text for editing (not just completing).
That's all.  Can that be handy?  Depends on context
and user preference.

Whether that provides for one use case or a hundred
depends on the context and on how you look at it.

It's a particular _behavior_.  How or whether one
makes use of it is quite another thing - just as
for every behavior.

What's important are:

 1. Having the behavior as a possible one - a
    tool in the toolkit.
 2. Giving users some control over it.