Re: Help sought understanding shorthands wrt modules/packages

[Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>]

> Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2022 11:26:45 +0100
> Cc: eliz@gnu.org, emacs-devel@gnu.org
> From: Gerd Möllmann <gerd.moellmann@gmail.com>
> 
> I was asking specifically about shorthands wrt to their use as a module 
> replacement, and I think tomas replied in that context.

The shorthands were added for a specific purpose that should be clear
from those discussions.  It can also be used as a "poor-man's
packaging system", and some contend that it is more than enough for
that purpose.  But that's not why we added it, and I don't necessarily
agree with the opinions which consider shorthands to be a basis for
Emacs package system, let alone a good one.

Moreover, from my POV, the jury is still out on the question of
whether we at all need packages in Emacs.  "Programming in the large"
doesn't sound very relevant to how Emacs Lisp is used.  It is not a GP
language for writing programs, it is a language for writing Emacs
applications.  The largest Emacs Lisp applications -- Gnus and Org --
are nowhere near the bar which I'd consider to be "programming in the
large".

I may change my mind, of course, but I didn't yet see any cogent
explanation of why we would need packages in Emacs.  People just tend
to consider it self-evident, like some axiom.  (And if you or someone
want to start a discussion of that, please change the Subject.)

Thanks.