Re: Option to not automatically customize-save-variable `package-selected-packages'

[Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>]

> From: Artur Malabarba <bruce.connor.am@gmail.com>
> Cc: Joost Kremers <joostkremers@fastmail.fm>,  johnw@gnu.org,  angelo.graziosi@alice.it,  emacs-devel@gnu.org
> Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2016 11:04:23 -0200
> 
> Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:
> 
> > Is package--save-selected-packages called every time package.el is
> > invoked, even if the user doesn't change the list of the selected
> > packages?
> 
> No. But it is called every time the list changes (either by installing
> or deleting a package).
> 
> > Otherwise, the user could install a package, edit their .emacs to
> > convert the custom-set-variables forms into setq, [...] like
> > they have to do with any other customization that is system-dependent.
> >
> > Will this solve the issue?
> 
> No, because package.el will still call `package--save-selected-packages'
> even though the variable has been set via `setq'. This will keep
> modifying the custom file, and the behaviour will depend on whether when
> the variable's value has been most recently set from the `setq' or from
> Custom.

Then I guess this is the problem we need to solve, right?  Customizing
the list of packages via Lisp that doesn't use custom-set-variables
ought to prevent Emacs from modifying the custom file.

> Meanwhile, with regular customizations, the user can just turn the
> `custom-set-variables' call into a `setq' and trust that Emacs won't
> reintroduce that variable there.

Now I'm confused: above you said "No" to my suggestion to do exactly
this, but now you seem to say that suggestion would solve the problem?
What did I miss?