For an even better feeling, combine 2 spaces with a more sensible line length. Why does the Google Python style guide allow only 80 columns and 4 spaces, but the Java style guide allows 100 columns and 2 spaces? Python may be simpler than Java, but the difference feels too large IMO, and it’s time to get rid of old TTY vestiges and embrace the larger screens.
When dealing with screen splits, max line length is important. If I have my screen split vertically, I can't display more than 90 characters per line without having to horizontally scroll or deal with soft wrapping even with a large screen. If I'm resolving conflicts using a 3 way vertical split with diff3, having a shorter line length is even more important.
This depends on your font size and on your screen size. I can manage 230 columns with 14px Consolas on a 1080p screen, which is plenty for two 100-column documents, and almost enough for 120-column. And even if it won’t fully fit, most lines don’t reach the length limit, and for the remaining ones, in a two-file scenario, you could enable the soft word wrap feature of your editor, or just cut them off and scroll a little when absolutely necessary.
