Re: PROPOSAL: Repurpose one key and reserve it for third-party packages

[Gregory Heytings <gregory@heytings.org>]

>>> Configuring a package, that provides a command as it's interface, 
>>> should be done by binding it to a key reserved for users. Just like 
>>> how configuring a minor mode is done by adding it to a hook or a major 
>>> mode by adding it to auto-mode-alist.
>>
>> What most users do is that they install third-party packages through 
>> their distro package manager, or through Elpa or Melpa, and they just 
>> expect / would like it to work.  That's what would happen when you 
>> install extension packages in most (if not all) other software 
>> (editors, browsers, ...): you don't have to manually fiddle with 
>> configuration files to make them work.
>
> If I install ffmpeg via apt on a Debian system, I expect it to work, in 
> the sense that I can invoke the command from the terminal whenever I 
> want to use it.  I don't think the analogy works for browsers, since 
> add-ons are usually filters or added to right-click menus.
>

The point is that those "filters" or "right-click menus" are activated, 
you can use them right away, you don't have to manually edit, say, the 
~/.config/chromium/init.js file beforehand.  If you had to do that, you 
would likely think it's a badly designed browser.  All Emacs users are not 
programmers like you and me.

>
> What might be interesting would be something like the gnu-elpa 
> package[0], or something that goes in the other direction, where a 
> package can recommend a keybinding, hook, etc. and "automatically" 
> configure itself if the user agrees.
>

If there is no keymap reserved for package keybindings, packages simply 
cannot do that.  The point of the proposal is only to make that possible.

>
> The problem I see is that key-bindings are usually user configuration, 
> and e.g. Magit *works* without them. I can do M-x magit-status, right 
> after installing it. No extra configuration necessary. But if I want to 
> have it easier, it's easy to add.
>

For you and me, yes.  For Emacs users in general, no.

>
> I think Ivy is a good example where this should *not* be the case, 
> because it changes the user-interface that can be confusing.
>

When you install a package whose purpose is to change the user interface, 
you expect it will change the user interface, don't you?  When you install 
an ad-blocker in your browser, you expect it will block ads, don't you?

>
> Packaging doesn't do configuration, and we shouldn't encourage this 
> misunderstanding.
>

Some users, like you and me, don't want Emacs packages to automatically 
configure themselves, that's fine and will always be possible.  Other 
users, like me when I install a GIMP plugin, want that GIMP plugin to be 
automatically configured.  I would be very confused if I had to manually 
edit the ~/.config/GIMP/X.YZ/gimprc and/or ~/.config/GIMP/X.YZ/pluginrc 
before using a plugin.