With the current shipping joe versions (3.5, 3.7 also likely) the defaults can be overidden with includes. For example, see my ~/.jmacsrc file below. (At the last rev, I had in set the default tabbing both before and after including jmacsrc for some reason.)
-istep 1 -tab 8 -indentc 9 :include /etc/joe/jmacsrc =IncSystem bold blue =Escape black --mid Cursor is recentered when scrolling is necessary -nobackups If you don't want backup files to be created -pg 3 No. lines to keep for PgUp/PgDn -nonotice Disable copyright notice -usetabs Use tabs to help optimize screen update. --icase Search is case insensitive by default. --wrap Search wraps -mouse Enable mouse support -lmsg \i%k%T%W%I%X [%n]%*%R %M %x -rmsg %y %S %c,%r/%l %p%% %u Ctrl-X H for help -istep 1 -tab 8 -indentc 9 :include /etc/joe/ftyperc *.rb -tab 2 -indentc 32 -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]