[ANNOUNCE] nano-5.0 is released

[Benno Schulenberg]

2020.07.29 - GNU nano 5.0 "Among the fields of barley"

• With --indicator (or -q or 'set indicator') nano will show a kind
of scrollbar on the righthand side of the screen to indicate where
in the buffer the viewport is located and how much it covers.
• With <Alt+Insert> any line can be "tagged" with an anchor, and
<Alt+PageUp> and <Alt+PageDown> will jump to the nearest anchor.
When using line numbers, an anchor is shown as "+" in the margin.
• The Execute Command prompt is now directly accessible from the
main menu (with ^T, replacing the Spell Checker). The Linter,
Formatter, Spell Checker, Full Justification, Suspension, and
Cut-Till-End functions are available in this menu too.
• On terminals that support at least 256 colors, nine new color
names are available: pink, purple, mauve, lagoon, mint, lime,
peach, orange, and latte. These do not have lighter versions.
• For the color names red, green, blue, yellow, cyan, magenta,
white, and black, the prefix 'light' gives a brighter color.
Prefix 'bright' is deprecated, as it means both bold AND light.
• All color names can be preceded with "bold," and/or "italic,"
(in that order) to get a bold and/or italic typeface.
• With --bookstyle (or -O or 'set bookstyle') nano considers any
line that begins with whitespace as the start of a paragraph.
• Refreshing the screen with ^L now works in every menu.
• In the main menu, ^L also centers the line with the cursor.
• Toggling the help lines with M-X now works in all menus except
in the help viewer and the linter.
• At a filename prompt, the first <Tab> lists the possibilities,
and these are listed near the bottom instead of near the top.
• Bindable function 'curpos' has been renamed to 'location'.
• Long option --tempfile has been renamed to --saveonexit.
• Short option -S is now a synonym of --softwrap.
• The New Buffer toggle (M-F) has become non-persistent. Options
--multibuffer and 'set multibuffer' still make it default to on.
• Backup files will retain their group ownership (when possible).
• Data is synced to disk before "... lines written" is shown.
• The raw escape sequences for F13 to F16 are no longer recognized.
• Distro-specific syntaxes, and syntaxes of less common languages,
have been moved down to subdirectory syntax/extra/. The affected
distros and others may wish to move wanted syntaxes one level up.
• Syntaxes for Markdown, Haskell, and Ada were added.


GNU nano is a simple and easy-to-use editor for on the terminal.
https://nano-editor.org/
https://nano-editor.org/manual.html

A concise overview of nano's shortcut keystrokes:
https://nano-editor.org/cheatsheet.html

The tarball and its signature are here:
https://nano-editor.org/dist/latest/nano-5.0.tar.xz
https://nano-editor.org/dist/latest/nano-5.0.tar.xz.asc


Specific issues that were addressed in this release:
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?56226 (cutting "touched" next line)
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?56525 (allow using 'italic' in syntax [wish])
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?57061 (print baked-in nanorc path [wish])
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?57402 (justifying ignored leading blanks)
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?57577 (a kind of bookmarks [wish])

https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?57956 (some kind of scrollbar [wish])
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58088 (with -L, M-6 could copy repeatedly)
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58130 (syntax for Markdown and Haskell [wish])
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58357 (lone CR in DOS file mistreated as LF)
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58383 (backup always had user's default group)

https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58410 (poor error message on undeletable file)
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58424 ('chan' in Go file was not highlighted)
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58439 (backup file could get appended to)
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58442 (user could not change mind after "No")
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58443 (^C was mistakenly understood as "Yes")

https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58469 (^L did not work at a prompt)
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58471 (let M-X work nearly everywhere [wish])
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58481 (possible miscoloring after replacement)
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58489 (cursor could sit on status bar in help)
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58490 (unknown sequence was silent at prompt)

https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58503 (separate 'bold' from 'bright' [wish])
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58619 (<Tab> pointlessly showed . and ..)
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58620 (let <Tab> show list near bottom [wish])
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58627 (show the list after one <Tab> [wish])
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58632 (restricted mode could leak info)

https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58642 (potential data loss upon crash)
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58685 (warn about read-only file [wish])
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58714 (invalid Unicode gave wrong feedback)
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58730 (pasting at Unicode prompt did not work)
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58731 (<Alt+numeric operator> entered letter)

https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58788 (<Esc><Esc> sequence not always reset)
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58799 (older compilers do not know "\e")
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?58818 (<Esc><Esc> sequence failed in macro)


Changes between v4.9 and v5.0:
------------------------------

Marco Diego Aurélio Mesquita (4):
new feature: bindable functions for toggling and jumping to "bookmarks"
bindings: hard-bind the bookmark functions to M-Ins and M-PgUp/M-PgDn
display: support the position indicator also when --softwrap is used
files: make the M-F (New Buffer) toggle non-persistent

Michalis Kokologiannakis (3):
files: improve the backup procedure to ensure no data is lost
tweaks: adjust some indentation after the previous change
tweaks: move the backup code to a separate function

Ryan Westlund (2):
syntax: go: highlight the chan keyword, and the special +build comment
syntax: haskell: new file -- coloring rules for Haskell programs

Andreas K. Foerster (1):
syntax: ada: new file -- coloring rules for Ada 2012 files

Pedro Victor de Brito Cordeiro (1):
tweaks: make parameter names in prototypes match those in the definitions

Benno Schulenberg (375):
anchor: do not let a full justification transfer an anchor to the top
anchor: do not let piping and spelling transfer an anchor to the top
anchor: during full justification preserve anchors as during single ones
backup: do not understand ^C as "Yes" when asking whether to continue
backup: when rereading the original file fails, ask the user what to do
bindings: add mistakenly removed M-J (Full Justify) back to the main menu
bindings: add ^Z (Suspend) to the "Execute Command" menu
bindings: allow toggling the help lines at several prompts and in browser
bindings: allow typing digits on the numeric keypad by holding Shift
bindings: make ^L (Refresh) work at all the prompts too
bindings: make ^T invoke the "Execute Command" menu, and ^T^T the Speller
bindings: remove the Full-Justify function from the Search menu
bindings: stop <Alt+operator> on the keypad from entering spurious letter
bindings: stop supporting <Esc> <Esc> <numeric slash> without NumLock
build: allow compilation to succeed on curses without italic support
build: do not let --disable-speller exclude also the formatter code
build: fix compilation for --enable-tiny --enable-color --enable-nanorc
build: fix compilation when configured with --disable-color
build: fix compilation when configured with --disable-speller
build: fix compilation when configured with --enable-tiny
build: fix compilation when configured with --enable-tiny
build: fix miscompilation for --enable-{tiny,color,nanorc}
build: fix the Makefile after two header files were renamed
build: make a deeper clone of gnulib (when building from git)
build: make ./configure report which global nanorc file will be used
build: replace the non-standard backslash escape "\e" with "\x1B"
build: stop distributing a nano.spec file
build: use a more dependable method for detecting a build from git
bump version numbers and add a news item for the 5.0 release
color: avoid allocating emptiness when there are no multiline regexes
color: when syntax coloring is toggled back on, calculate multiline data
colors: move purple one step away from magenta, and use a darker mauve
copying: change the implementation, away from cutting plus copying back
copying: do not forget to update the screen when M-6 is pressed
copying: when using M-6, copy the final line in the buffer just once
copying: with --nonewlines, don't add a final newline to the cutbuffer
counting: count words and characters without partitioning the file
counting: count words correctly also when --wordchars is used
cutting: change the implementation of cutting to not use partitioning
cutting: overhaul the pasting routine, to not make use of partitioning
display: avoid an additional redrawing when redrawing the screen
display: blank the status bar for a copy operation, like for cut & paste
display: do not try to draw content when there is no open buffer yet
display: reposition the cursor after an error message also in a help text
docs: complete the renaming of 'tempfile' to 'saveonexit'
docs: copy the 4.9.1 news item from the release branch
docs: copy the 4.9.2 news item from the release branch
docs: copy the 4.9.3 news item from the release branch
docs: document the --indicator (-q) and 'set indicator' options
docs: document the new -O/--bookstyle and 'set bookstyle' options
docs: explain how anchors work, and document their bindable functions
docs: improve some descriptions concerning the file browser
docs: in the sample nanorc file, refer instead of duplicating
docs: mention that doing a full-buffer operation wipes away all anchors
docs: mention that M-X toggle is special, because available in most menus
docs: mention that the dedicated cursor-moving keys are not rebindable
docs: mention the nine new color names, and "bold" plus "italic"
docs: note Marco as the original author of the bookmarking code
docs: reduce the TODO file to a reference to the bug tracker on Savannah
docs: stop mentioning that --wordchars overrides --wordbounds
docs: use 'bold' and 'light' instead of 'bright' in the sample nanorc
feedback: beep also at a prompt when receiving an unknown escape sequence
feedback: do not list "." and ".." as possible <Tab><Tab> completions
feedback: indicate an anchor with a "+" in the line-number margin
feedback: show a message also when trying to copy an empty region
feedback: show the cursor position also at startup in an empty buffer
feedback: skip wiping the prompt bar when the shortcut printed a message
files: also when creating a backup fails, ask the user whether to proceed
files: ask the user whether to proceed every time a backup fails
files: before prompting, show also the reason why the backup failed
files: disallow tabbing when in restricted mode
files: do not append but truncate when allowing insecure backups
files: do not let a stray CR in a DOS file trigger Mac format
files: do not make a failsafe backup when in restricted mode
files: give a more precise warning when deleting an existing backup fails
files: ignore errors when calling chmod() on a backup file
files: ignore errors when calling chown() on a backup file
files: ignore errors when calling futimens() on a backup file
files: list possible completions after just one <Tab> instead of two
files: make a backup only when requested, not an unrequested failsafe one
files: make better use of the last row when there are many completions
files: make filtering of the entire buffer into a new buffer work again
files: never report a file as being of mixed format
files: reinitialize the palette only when the syntax actually changed
files: remove two superfluous calls for shielding temp files from others
files: show a warning when writing a backup fails, before prompting
files: show possible tab completions near the bottom of the edit window
files: take into account that also closing a backup file can fail
files: trigger the Easter egg only when "zzy" is typed at the prompt
files: warn the root user when all the write bits are missing
files: write out a marked region without partitioning the buffer
general: make five tools accessible through the "Execute Command" menu
general: rename "bookmark" to "anchor", to sound less permanent
gnulib: update to its current upstream state
help: describe what has been added to the "Execute Command" menu
help: pair the items in the two bottom lines better in the tiny version
help: put the two toggles first in the "Execute Command" menu
history: don't send error messages to the screen; store them in the queue
history: take into account that closing a file can fail
history: take into account that statting a file can fail too
indicator: recompute the extra rows also for cut/paste/split/join
indicator: recompute the extra rows also when justifying and resizing
indicator: rework how the "scrollbar" is computed when softwrapping
input: interpret an escape sequence only when it starts with "[" or "O"
input: reset the counters when a three-digit sequence is not completed
input: stop recognizing the raw escape sequences for F13 to F16
locking: ignore the insecure-backup flag when creating a lock file
locking: prevent a symlink attack by not opening an existing lock file
memory: plug a leak, by freeing the cutbuffer after a bracketed paste
menus: remove unneeded words and shortenings from key labels
new feature: a position-plus-portion indicator on the righthand side
oops -- restore an accidentally changed file
options: add --indicator and -q for switching on the scroll-bar thing
options: add -O/--bookstyle to make leading whitespace mean new paragraph
options: let --afterends affect also the deleting of words (Ctrl+Delete)
options: make -S the short synonym of --softwrap
options: rename --tempfile to --saveonexit, to be far clearer
options: stop recognizing the obsolete --morespace and --smooth
po: update translations and regenerate POT file and PO files
prompt: at Yes-No, do not treat a screen resize as an invalid keystroke
rcfile: accept prefix "light" to make a color brighter without bolding it
rcfile: add bindable function 'execute', for access to "Execute Command"
rcfile: allow specifying a bright background color (with prefix "light")
rcfile: complain when an essential key binding is missing
rcfile: do not complain when "bright" is used with a background color
rcfile: introduce nine new named colors, from "pink" to "latte"
rcfile: introduce the modifier "bold", for specifying bolding separately
rcfile: introduce the modifier 'italic', for slanted text
rcfile: rename bindable function 'curpos' to 'location'
rcfile: rename 'extcmd' to 'execute', to be more readable and fitting
rcfile: report the first bad color element, not a later one that is okay
rcfile: restore terminal settings when exiting upon excessive unbindings
replacing: recalculate the multiline coloring info when needed
scrolling: add a function and a key binding to center the cursor line
speller: take into account that statting a file can fail [coverity]
startup: allow presetting case-sensitive search also in the tiny version
startup: check stdout instead of stdin when probing for a Linux console
startup: enter curses mode before reading the nanorc files
startup: initialize colors only when the terminal is capable of colors
syntax: css: color multiline comments correctly
syntax: default: colorize embedded control codes
syntax: email: rename file and syntax, away from the mistaken 'mutt'
syntax: markdown: do not colorize text between two bold words as italic
syntax: markdown: new file -- coloring rules for Markdown files
syntax: mgp: drop the almost-empty MagicPoint file and syntax
syntax: move distro-specific files down to a subdirectory, syntax/extra/
syntax: nanorc: colorize 'bright' anyway, so existing syntaxes look okay
syntax: nanorc: colorize the new named colors too, from "mint" to "mauve"
syntax: nanorc: stop colorizing 'bright', even though it's still accepted
syntax: sql: condense some regexes, and reduce their number
syntax: sql: rename the file to match the name of the syntax
syntaxes: move the rules for Fortran and Povray files down to extra/
syntaxes: remove some stuff that has been commented out for a long time
syntaxes: remove some superfluous outer parentheses from regexes
syntaxes: remove unneeded backslash escapes before quotes
syntaxes: uniformize the initial comment
tabbing: beep at the first listing, and when there are zero possibilities
tabbing: properly terminate the answer when the sole match is a folder
text: retain a bookmark when two lines are joined or something is cut
tweaks: add a condition, so that two ifs can be elided
tweaks: add a helpful message for when pkg.m4 is missing during a build
tweaks: add a helping variable, in order to unwrap three lines
tweaks: add a helping variable, to slightly condense the code
tweaks: add a symbol, in order to condense three function calls
tweaks: add four early returns for read/write errors of history files
tweaks: add four more translator hints
tweaks: add two comments, and improve another
tweaks: adjust comments and indentation after the previous change
tweaks: adjust the conditional help-item pairing for absence of speller
tweaks: adjust the file format indicator in a quicker way
tweaks: adjust the indentation after the previous change
tweask: adjust the indentation after the previous change
tweaks: avoid a compiler warning
tweaks: avoid a function call when a simple boolean will do
tweaks: avoid an unnecessary refresh for zero or just one completion
tweaks: avoid a warning about an unused variable in the tiny version
tweaks: avoid checking a variable three times for each pass in the loop
tweaks: avoid unneeded calls of free() by reallocating the full name
tweaks: call init_pair() just once for each pair number
tweaks: call the spotlighting routines only for the relevant line
tweaks: call use_default_colors() just once for each run
tweaks: cascade the ifs properly: without increasing the indentation
tweaks: change a helping variable, to make two blocks still more similar
tweaks: change a 'switch' to 'if', to elide a dummy 'return'
tweaks: close opened files when something goes wrong [coverity]
tweaks: condense a bit of code, by reusing an existing variable
tweaks: condense a comment, and express a condition in a different way
tweaks: condense a comment, and reshuffle a few lines
tweaks: condense a comment, and reshuffle some conditions
tweaks: condense and improve some comments
tweaks: condense some cases to a single line, for more clarity
tweaks: condense the code a little further, by grouping things better
tweaks: correct a comment, and avoid third repetition of some conditions
tweaks: correct a comment, and drop a redundant (because nested) #ifdef
tweaks: correct some comments, as VT100 and such have smaller keypads
tweaks: correct two spelling mistakes [codespell]
tweaks: delete a ChangeLog that is no longer updated and is incomplete
tweaks: delete another pointless ChangeLog
tweaks: delete a now-unused function
tweaks: delete some unneeded code, and rename the function accordingly
tweaks: delete the now-unused partitioning and unpartitioning routines
tweaks: delete two functions that are never executed
tweaks: do not use 'switch' when there are just two possibilities
tweaks: do not use the string "stat()" in any of the comments
tweaks: don't bother overwriting a CR -- decreasing the length is enough
tweaks: don't bother statting the lock file before unlinking it
tweaks: don't bother using the exclusive flag when creating a lock file
tweaks: don't check for escape sequences that start with a lowercase "o"
tweaks: don't use a symbol for other purposes
tweaks: do the conversion of -1 to a specific color just once
tweaks: do the saving of histories in a single place
tweaks: drop an unneeded assignment, and reshuffle a few lines
tweaks: drop a superfluous check for a non-zero length
tweaks: drop obsolete 'nano.spec' from .gitignore file, and reshuffle
tweaks: drop two redundant conditions, and improve three comments
tweaks: drop two unneeded assignments
tweaks: drop two unneeded wnoutrefresh() calls in the spotlight routines
tweaks: elide a function that is called just once
tweaks: elide a function that is too sparse
tweaks: elide another parameter, relevant in just three menus
tweaks: elide a now-unused parameter -- it is always FALSE
tweaks: elide an unneeded call of strlen(), and copy NUL byte with string
tweaks: elide an unneeded global variable
tweaks: elide an unneeded parameter, and rename the other
tweaks: elide an unneeded variable, as there is nothing beyond '*place'
tweaks: elide an unused parameter, and rename the other and a variable
tweaks: elide a parameter, by calling the relevant function beforehand
tweaks: elide a parameter that is relevant for only one menu (Goto Dir)
tweaks: elide a redundant intermediate function
tweaks: elide a variable and be more direct, and rename another
tweaks: elide a variable, and shortcircuit a return
tweaks: elide a variable, by returning the result directly
tweaks: elide a wrapper function, by checking a precondition earlier
tweaks: elide three functions that are called just once
tweaks: elide three parameters, as they are the same for both calls
tweaks: elide two ifs for the most likely case, when defaults are allowed
tweaks: elide two redundant calls of strchr()
tweaks: exclude a bit of bracketed-paste code from the tiny version
tweaks: exclude an unneeded fragment of code from the tiny version
tweaks: exit from the writing loop as soon as the last line is reached
tweaks: fix twenty typos, in old Changelogs and in some comments
tweaks: fold translation of all modified keypad keystrokes together
tweaks: fold two blocks into each other, to elide three overlapping cases
tweaks: for each version, mention the changes to the PO files last
tweaks: get rid of a bunch of annoying casts, and thus condense the code
tweaks: group the exiting routines together, and condense the comments
tweaks: handle the double escapes directly, instead of going round again
tweaks: handle two similar things in the same way
tweaks: implement the anchor routines in a different way
tweaks: improve a comment, rename a function, and elide a parameter
tweaks: improve a comment, reshuffle a scroll command, elide a variable
tweaks: improve four comments
tweaks: improve several comments, and rewrap two lines
tweaks: improve some comments, and reshuffle an assignment
tweaks: improve some comments and whitespace, and reshuffle a few lines
tweaks: improve three comments, drop one, and unwrap a line
tweaks: improve two comments, and reshuffle some lines for conciseness
tweaks: invert a condition, to have two clauses in a more logical order
tweaks: invert a condition, to see the similarity between the two modes
tweaks: make an early return for zero matches, and rename a variable
tweaks: make an error message more accurate and reduce it to its essence
tweaks: make three hard-bindings of special keys more efficiently
tweaks: move a copyright notice to a better place, and improve it
tweaks: move a fragment of code to the one branch that needs it
tweaks: move a function to a more logical place
tweaks: move a function to before the one that calls it
tweaks: move a function to before the one that calls it
tweaks: move a function, to be in the order in which they are called
tweaks: move a function to the file where it is used the most
tweaks: move an 'if', to not call leftedge_for() when not softwrapping
tweaks: move an initialization function to before the one that calls it
tweaks: move two functions, to have them in a more logical order
tweaks: normalize the indentation after the previous change
tweaks: normalize the indentation after the previous change
tweaks: normalize the indentation after the previous change
tweaks: normalize the indentation after the previous change
tweaks: normalize the indentation after the previous change
tweaks: order three menu names in the documentation slightly better
tweaks: plug a leak, by always freeing the full filename [valgrind]
tweaks: rake a common statement to the end of the case
tweaks: recalculate the multiline info just once when doing "Replace All"
tweaks: reduce the indentation after the previous change
tweaks: remove an incorrect mention of umask() from a comment
tweaks: remove an unneeded call of wnoutrefresh()
tweaks: remove an unneeded cursor movement, and rename a variable
tweaks: remove an unneeded element from the openfilestruct
tweaks: remove a redundant cursor movement, remove a redundant condition
tweaks: remove a superfluous check on the length of the key buffer
tweaks: remove a superfluous global variable
tweaks: remove some superfluous conditions
tweaks: remove three unneeded while loops from two input routines
tweaks: remove two calls of umask() by specifying permissions directly
tweaks: remove two redundant conditions, and make a more direct return
tweaks: remove two superfluous assignments
tweaks: remove unneeded variables after the previous change
tweaks: rename a function, and move it to before the one that calls it
tweaks: rename a function, and move it to before the one that calls it
tweaks: rename a function, to be more correct
tweaks: rename a function, to be more general and clearer
tweaks: rename a function, to be more precise, and reshuffle it
tweaks: rename a function, to be more precise, and reshuffle some things
tweaks: rename a function, to better describe what it does
tweaks: rename a function, to leave the old names behind
tweaks: rename a function, to match with the boolean that guards it
tweaks: rename a function, to not shadow a variable, and elide parameter
tweaks: rename a parameter and a variable, to be more meaningful
tweaks: rename a struct element, to be shorter and preciser
tweaks: rename a symbol, and actually use it where it is needed
tweaks: rename a symbol, away from a double abbreviation
tweaks: rename a symbol, from a phrase to a noun
tweaks: rename a symbol, to be more accurate, and reshuffle two lines
tweaks: rename a symbol, to better suit its purpose, and reduce its scope
tweaks: rename a variable, and condense a comment
tweaks: rename a variable, and normalize the indentation
tweaks: rename a variable, and reduce the scope of two others
tweaks: rename a variable, for more contrast with the function name
tweaks: rename a variable, for shortness and contrast
tweaks: rename a variable, improve a comment, and reshuffle a few things
tweaks: rename a variable, to avoid overrepetition of 'backup'
tweaks: rename a variable, to better describe what it holds
tweaks: rename a variable, to better fit related ones
tweaks: rename a variable, to make more sense
tweaks: rename a variable, to not refer to a row as a "line"
tweaks: rename one of the flag symbols, to be clearer
tweaks: rename two functions and a variable, and improve two comments
tweaks: rename two functions, and rename and reshuffle a parameter
tweaks: rename two functions, to better indicate what they do
tweaks: rename two header files, to be distinct and not an abbreviation
tweaks: rename two labels, for brevity
tweaks: rename two parameters, away from abbreviations
tweaks: rename two parameters, away from an abbreviation
tweaks: rename two parameters, to be more fitting
tweaks: rename two variables, and reduce the scope of a third
tweaks: rename two variables, away from abbreviations
tweaks: rename two variables, to avoid a repetitive prefix
tweaks: rename two variables, to be shorter and without abbreviations
tweaks: reshuffle a bit of code, to elide an #ifndef
tweaks: reshuffle a condition, for symmetry
tweaks: reshuffle a condition, to avoid a repetition of code
tweaks: reshuffle a condition, to make a little more sense
tweaks: reshuffle a declaration and six calls of free(), to avoid a leak
tweaks: reshuffle a few lines, and remove a few unneeded comments
tweaks: reshuffle a few lines, for conciseness
tweaks: reshuffle a few lines, to elide an 'if' from the most common path
tweaks: reshuffle a fragment of code, to elide a 'goto'
tweaks: reshuffle an assignment, for conciseness, and rename a variable
tweaks: reshuffle and trim a comment, and remove unneeded pair of braces
tweaks: reshuffle a statement, to have major initialization in nano.c
tweaks: reshuffle some code, to avoid needlessly calling a function
tweaks: reshuffle some conditions, to straighten the logic
tweaks: reshuffle some lines, for esthetics
tweaks: reshuffle some lines, to better separate the three cases
tweaks: rewrap a few lines in old news items, for more balanced lines
tweaks: separate a symbol from its definition by two spaces
tweaks: shorten an error message, to be appropriate in all situations
tweaks: shorten the name of a symbol, to match its bindable function
tweaks: simplify an error message, by mentioning just the main point
tweaks: simplify the counting of characters in a section
tweaks: skip the conversion to multibyte for plain ASCII codes
tweaks: slightly improve a comment and the ordering of some lines
tweaks: slightly improve the grouping of shortcuts in some help texts
tweaks: three escapes is the same as either zero escapes or one escape
tweaks: trim an ASCII case, as the function is called only for UTF-8
tweaks: trim some oververbose comments -- they overshadow the code
tweaks: uniformize some old translator credits
tweaks: update a translator hint, and add another
tweaks: update three translator hints, add two, and frob three strings
tweaks: use a better symbol than 'ERR' to signify a valid hex digit
tweaks: use knowledge of Unicode to skip the general multibyte conversion
tweaks: use three switches instead of cascading ifs, for brevity
undo: choose the proper x positions to place the cursor and rejoin lines
undo: when undoing a line cut, place the cursor back where it was
usage: unabbreviate option arguments where possible
verbatim: show an error message when an invalid Unicode code is entered
verbatim: turn bracketed-paste mode off while waiting for input

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Benno