the header part "This program is free software" must not be included -- it should not be suggested in any way that the user's code has to be licensed under the same terms as Octave.

So I think what you're asking for when you say "blank script by default" is you want the editor to have an unnamed document ready to start typing in, is that right? Currently if there are no files open the editor has a grayish background and the user has to click on the New button to create a new file and then begin editing. Not agreeing or disagreeing, just trying to clarify.

If that's so, that might be different than this bug which is about creating templates for new function files and C++ oct-files.

from bug #41221:
What would a blank script template look like though?  A script really is whatever the user wants to put there.  A function has a more defined shape and so we offer a template for that.

The original comment in the linked bug report was about allowing the user to create their own custom templates instead of using the hardcoded template that is in edit.m. This could be done with a particular file name in the user's path, in some ~/.config or ~/.octave "well-known" location, or with a hook function that returns the text to write into the new file. It was also mentioned to support keyword substitution for things like author name, date, copyright, license, etc, similar to what the hardcoded templates in edit.m do currently.

Retitling this bug report to reflect that.

As posted by John in comment
https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/index.php?40502#comment1
of bug #40502:
It would be nice to have template files for the creation of new function files. Special keywords in the templates are replaced by user data when the new file is created.