Re: Software/HD ecology

[Anil Trivedi <anil@null.invalid>]

Phillip Lord <p.lord@russet.org.uk> wrote:


>   Anil> 2. Once the program compiles, and works fine, the user should
>   Anil> be able to delete all files that were needed in compiling but will not
>   Anil> be needed in running it, or in uninstalling it.
>   
> I think Kai's example showed the problem with this...
> Personally I find an emacs without the .el files half baked...
> The core problem is that the Emacs is a lisp interpreter...

There is no problem here. If it is desirable to keep .el files in
Emacs, let us by all means keep them. Make them unremovable and have
the program issue a stern lecture and warning to anyone who tries to
override the protection!

That is however no reason to no provide tools to delete unneeded files,
in emacs or in hundreds of other programs. 

Let me add the following philosophical plug that I have been pushing
today: Unix was conceptualized for small systems and programs, where a
user needed and knew every file, where it came from, what it does.
Either he wrote it himself or copied it from a friend. Those times are
gone. We have hundreds of thousands of files, know nothing about them,
and routinely install packages that bring thousands of files. The
culture and the tools have not evolved to deal with this reality and
perhaps need to. 

Anil Trivedi