These four keywords are not really variables; setting them in any
other context has no special meaning.
+ If you're editing a file across Emacs versions, and a new mode has
+been introduced to handle a file in a newer Emacs version, you can use
+several @code{mode} entries to use the new mode (called
+@code{my-new-mode}) in the new Emacs, and fall back to the old mode
+(called @code{my-old-mode}) in older Emacs versions. If you're
+enabling the modes in the first line of the file, you should use this
+order:
+
+@example
+-*- mode: my-new; mode: my-old -*-
+@end example
+
+ Emacs will ignore undefined modes until it finds one it can use.
+However, if you're using a local variable block at the end up the
+file, the order is reversed:
+
+@example
+Local variables:
+mode: my-old
+mode: my-new
+@end example
+
+ Here Emacs will use the @emph{last} defined mode it finds. (This is
+for historical reasons.)
+
Do not use the @code{mode} keyword for minor modes. To enable or
disable a minor mode in a local variables list, use the @code{eval}
keyword with a Lisp expression that runs the mode command
\f
* Lisp Changes in Emacs 29.1
++++
+** The local variable section now supports defining fallback modes.
+This was previously only available when using a property line (i.e.,
+putting the modes on the first line of a file).
+
+++
** New function 'flush-standard-output'.
This enables you do display incomplete lines from batch-based Emacs