Re: executable-find in files.el

[Michael Albinus <michael.albinus@gmx.de>]

Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> writes:

> In my view, the point of executable-find is to figure out whether there is
> a command that we can run.  If it tells us "I found /ssh:foo/bar/baz", but
> then call-process fails because it doesn't work through Tramp, I think it's
> a problem.

Tramp does not consider `exec-path' (it uses `tramp-remote-path'
instead of). The reason is that `exec-path' would be ambiguous for
Tramp - it is needed to find local executables (say "ssh") and remote
ones.

I agree with Stefan that, as long as `file-executable-p' returns
meaningful values for remote files, there must be a meaning for
`exec-path', `executable-find' and `start-process' as well in the
remote case.

For `call-process' this has been done already, although I don't
understand why a new function (`process-file') was needed. Otherwise
the problem mentioned by Stefan wouldn't exist.

>         Stefan

Best regards, Michael.