Re: [ELPA] New package: ERC

[Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi@gnus.org>]

Amin Bandali <bandali@gnu.org> writes:

> 1. Making the iso8601 dependency optional; or even better, adding it
>    to GNU ELPA and adapting it to only use the new functions like
>    `string-replace' on newer Emacsen.
>
>    What do you think about this, Lars?

I don't think there's much point in using `string-replace' at all in
packages that are meant to be used in older Emacs versions -- they can
be trivially rewritten to use `replace-regexp-in-string' always.

But I'm not sure whether it makes much sense to put a bunch of the
built-in Emacs libraries in ELPA -- perhaps it does make sense for
iso8601.el (even if there's been some internal time changes for time
representation of sub-second times), but for instance:

> 2. Adding browse-url to GNU ELPA, since erc-button uses its
>    `browse-url-button-regexp', which was only added in Emacs 27.
>    We could probably adjust erc-button to fall back onto Gnus's
>    `gnus-button-url-regexp' on older Emacsen, but I think I'd
>    rather not do that.

It's just a slippery slope, as you've found out with erc.  Putting stuff
into ELPA adds a real added maintenance cost, because you can't use
modern idioms and better constructs like:

> 3. Not using `with-suppressed-warnings' (added in Emacs 27) on older
>    Emacsen and perhaps fall back on `with-no-warnings' for the single
>    use of that macro instead.

Using `with-no-warnings' is usually a disservice, because it pastes over
other potential errors other than the one you meant to inhibit.

So I'm sceptical about all of this -- is the added utility of having
these libraries in ELPA for users so big that we want to take on the
added maintenance burden?

I'm doubtful.

-- 
(domestic pets only, the antidote for overdose, milk.)
   bloggy blog: http://lars.ingebrigtsen.no