Windows 10, Melpa, TSL

Windows 10, Melpa, TSL

[Bo Grimes]

System and Relevant Portion of .emacs

GNU Emacs 24.4.1 (i686-pc-mingw32)
Windows 10 Home, Version 1607, Build 14393.51

(require 'package) ;;
(add-to-list 'package-archives
              '("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/"))
(when (< emacs-major-version 24)
   ;; For important compatibility libraries like cl-lib
   (add-to-list 'package-archives '("gnu" . 
"http://elpa.gnu.org/packages/")))
(package-initialize) ;

Problem, Possibly Solved

I'm not a programmer (by any name).  Just an ordinary person cursed with 
a need to use software I can adapt to myself.  I wish I was: "Word?  
Evernote? That's how you write and take notes? Perfect! Got it. Thanks." 
It would make my life so much more simple. I am able to make Emacs and 
Org-mode work more like my brain wants to work than anything I have 
tried since stumbling on the Internet in the computer lab during grad 
school (history) in the early 90s, so I persist.

Yeah, I know, stop narrating (see history above).

Yesterday, I wanted to install csv-mode because I decided to move what 
little spreadsheet work I do for record keeping into Emacs as well.

The Packages buffer loaded fine, but when I tried to install I got: 
"could not create connection to melpa.milkbox.net"

After some Google work, it seems I should have been using melpa.org not 
melpa.milkbox.net, so I changed that, and still had the same problem.

I rarely ever install packages since all I really do is take notes, 
manage tasks and write, but just two weeks ago I played around with some 
new themes out of boredom with the one I have been using for a year, and 
everything worked fine.

Some more Google work led me to believe it was a TSL problem.  I 
followed the advice here: 
http://xn--9dbdkw.se/diary/how_to_enable_GnuTLS_for_Emacs_24_on_Windows/index.en.html 
which is basically:

Get GnuTSL, extract, copy DLLs to the bin directory of Emacs, restart 
Emacs.  It worked.

So, what's the problem?  The problem is I don't know what I did, and I 
don't like that. I don't know if I really fixed anything or if I created 
potential future problems.  The only change to my system for months has 
been Windows updates, and everything worked fine just two weeks ago.

Re: Windows 10, Melpa, TSL

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2016 10:39:39 -0400
> From: Bo Grimes <vcg3rd@fastmail.com>
> 
> Some more Google work led me to believe it was a TSL problem.  I 
> followed the advice here: 
> http://xn--9dbdkw.se/diary/how_to_enable_GnuTLS_for_Emacs_24_on_Windows/index.en.html 
> which is basically:
> 
> Get GnuTSL, extract, copy DLLs to the bin directory of Emacs, restart 
> Emacs.  It worked.
> 
> So, what's the problem?  The problem is I don't know what I did, and I 
> don't like that. I don't know if I really fixed anything or if I created 
> potential future problems.

No potential problems.  What you did was install a library that Emacs
needs to create secure connections.  Your Emacs was already ready to
use that library, but you didn't have it on your system.  That library
doesn't come with Windows out of the box.

Re: Windows 10, Melpa, TSL

[Bo Grimes]

On 8/18/2016 2:29 PM, Eli Zaretskii wrote:
>> Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2016 10:39:39 -0400
>> From: Bo Grimes <vcg3rd@fastmail.com>
>>
>> Some more Google work led me to believe it was a TSL problem.  I
>> followed the advice here:
>> http://xn--9dbdkw.se/diary/how_to_enable_GnuTLS_for_Emacs_24_on_Windows/index.en.html
>> which is basically:
>>
>> Get GnuTSL, extract, copy DLLs to the bin directory of Emacs, restart
>> Emacs.  It worked.
>>
>> So, what's the problem?  The problem is I don't know what I did, and I
>> don't like that. I don't know if I really fixed anything or if I created
>> potential future problems.
> No potential problems.  What you did was install a library that Emacs
> needs to create secure connections.  Your Emacs was already ready to
> use that library, but you didn't have it on your system.  That library
> doesn't come with Windows out of the box.

Great thanks.  I don't understand why it worked fine for months, and 
then didn't, unless the Windows 10 Anniversary Update did something, but 
as long as what I did won't cause any problems, I'm fine with accepting 
it's Windows.

Re: Windows 10, Melpa, TSL

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2016 16:19:33 -0400
> From: Bo Grimes <vcg3rd@fastmail.com>
> 
> > No potential problems.  What you did was install a library that Emacs
> > needs to create secure connections.  Your Emacs was already ready to
> > use that library, but you didn't have it on your system.  That library
> > doesn't come with Windows out of the box.
> 
> Great thanks.  I don't understand why it worked fine for months, and 
> then didn't

My guess would be because MELPA switched to HTTPS, which requires
secure connections.  IOW, previously this functionality wasn't needed
in order for you to be able to communicate with MELPA, but now it is.

Re: Windows 10, Melpa, TSL

[Bo Grimes]

I couldn't let it go as to why I wasn't having the problem and then 
did.  I think it was two separate problems.  OP snipped to relevant 
portions:

On 8/18/2016 10:39 AM, Bo Grimes wrote:
>
> The Packages buffer loaded fine, but when I tried to install I got: 
> "could not create connection to melpa.milkbox.net"
>
> After some Google work, it seems I should have been using melpa.org 
> not melpa.milkbox.net, so I changed that, and still had the same problem.

I found this on Github from the maintainer of Milkbox:

"milkypostman commented 2 days ago
sorry about this, we are having issues with our webserver but not clear 
what the issue is."

> Some more Google work led me to believe it was a TSL problem.  I 
> followed the advice here: 
> http://xn--9dbdkw.se/diary/how_to_enable_GnuTLS_for_Emacs_24_on_Windows/index.en.html 
> which is basically:
>
> Get GnuTSL, extract, copy DLLs to the bin directory of Emacs, restart 
> Emacs.  It worked.
>

Apparently, because Milkbox was having webserver problems I couldn't 
connect.  When I switched to melpa I bumped into the fact that Melpa 
recently switched to https and Emacs Windows doesn't ship with SSL/TLS, 
a problem I wasn't having *before* because I was using Milkbox, a 
problem solved by the above procedure.

OK, I can go to sleep now.