CR> Bill changed the operation of escape a long time ago,
CR> You have to use Alt-X to exit msged, but escape still
CR> works the same for all other operations. simply a
CR> safeguard for the times when you hit escape once too often.

CR> Personally I find apps that confirm exit rather annoying.

Sure, but it is handy if they ESC exit. Corse you can validly
ask what the point of that is, when Alt-X exit is available
without confirmation as well.

CR> How many proper applications do you
CR> know that use esc to exit completely?

The most obvious are the Nortons apps like DiskEdit. With
confirmation. And with Alt-X as an instant exit without confirmation.

List exits with ESC without a confirmation.

CR> It doesn't even look like that was the authors original
CR> intention, since he has provided the alt-x means to exit.

Cant agree with that, ESC for exit isnt that
uncommon. Mostly without confirmation too.

CR> Somewhere along the line esc got defined in msged.cfg
CR> as exit _as_well_, and it got distributed that way.

Presumably by someone who realised it wasnt uncommon.

CR> Alt-x is an excellent exit key combination as it's
CR> easy to remember, almost as convenient as a single
CR> key exit, but is much harder to do by accident.

Yep, no argument there. And ESC exit without confirmation
can be a fucking pain in the arse at times, particularly
if ESC is used quite a bit in the app itself, very easy
to accidentally exit when its not intended.

--- PQWK202