bug#81613: [PATCH] Make vc-dir use display-buffer instead of pop-to-buffer

> Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2026 15:33:27 +0100
> 
> Protesilaos [13/Aug  1:57pm +03] wrote:
>> Dear maintainers,
>> 
>> I was trying to control the placement of "*vc-dir*" buffers via the
>> 'display-buffer-alist' but I could not get the expected results. Then
>> I looked at the source code to find that 'M-x vc-dir' relies on
>> 'pop-to-buffer'. The attached patch includes the small change we need
>> to get 'vc-dir' to conform with 'display-buffer-alist'.
> 
> pop-to-buffer normally respects display-buffer-alist, though?

I cannot make it work. These are two simplified approaches I tried with
'emacs -Q', followed by 'M-x vc-dir' in a Git directory:

     ;; Does not produce a new tab
     (setq display-buffer-alist
           '((derived-mode . vc-dir-mode)
             (display-buffer-reuse-mode-window display-buffer-in-tab)
             (mode . vc-dir-mode)))

     ;; Does not appear below the selected window
     (setq display-buffer-alist
           '((derived-mode . vc-dir-mode)
             (display-buffer-reuse-mode-window 
display-buffer-below-selected)
             (mode . vc-dir-mode)))