bug#65014: Configure Default Values

bug#65014: Configure Default Values

[Jacob Faibussowitsch]

Hello,

TL;DR: What packages does configure enable by default, i.e. do not require a --with-PACKAGE flag to explicitly enable? Moreover, what are the best practices for configuring emacs that don’t require min-maxing your configuration options every time.

——

I like to configure my emacs install to be as (reasonably) fully featured as possible, so I peruse the ./configure --help options from time to time to see if any new packages are available. If I notice a package I don’t have in my list of --with-package I add it, and reconfigure. 

But my configure command is now pretty long, and it strikes me that this brittle in the face of changes to configure. Suppose there is a change in best practices, and now --with-FOO is better than --with-BAR, but because I have --with-BAR (and forgot to remove it), configure won’t look for FOO. My emacs conf will be slightly suboptimal (perish the thought!) and I won’t be any the wiser.

Best regards,

Jacob Faibussowitsch
(Jacob Fai - booss - oh - vitch)

bug#65014: Configure Default Values

[Po Lu via Bug reports for GNU Emacs, the Swiss army knife of text editors]

Jacob Faibussowitsch <jacob.fai@gmail.com> writes:

> Hello,
>
> TL;DR: What packages does configure enable by default, i.e. do not
> require a --with-PACKAGE flag to explicitly enable? Moreover, what are
> the best practices for configuring emacs that don’t require min-maxing
> your configuration options every time.
>
> ——
>
> I like to configure my emacs install to be as (reasonably) fully
> featured as possible, so I peruse the ./configure --help options from
> time to time to see if any new packages are available. If I notice a
> package I don’t have in my list of --with-package I add it, and
> reconfigure.
>
> But my configure command is now pretty long, and it strikes me that
> this brittle in the face of changes to configure. Suppose there is a
> change in best practices, and now --with-FOO is better than
> --with-BAR, but because I have --with-BAR (and forgot to remove it),
> configure won’t look for FOO. My emacs conf will be slightly
> suboptimal (perish the thought!) and I won’t be any the wiser.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Jacob Faibussowitsch
> (Jacob Fai - booss - oh - vitch)

Hi, questions about building Emacs should be directed to
help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org, not the bug tracker.  To answer them, however,
refer to INSTALL, which explains available configuration options in
detail.

Generally speaking, running `configure' without any arguments will
produce an Emacs with a configuration that is reasonable for most
users.