RE: "Emacs Lisp Packages" chapter in the Emacs manual

[Drew Adams <drew.adams@oracle.com>]

I don't quite understand this part of your diff:

+The traditional way to install Emacs Lisp code is to either install it
+in the Emacs Lisp @dfn{load path} or to add the path to the code to
+the load path list.

What does it mean to "install" code in `load-path'?
And how does that differ from adding the directory or
file of the code to `load-path' (IOW, why the "or")?

I think all that's involved in the "traditional"
approach, to make a library loadable by `require' or
`load-library' or autoloading, is to add the
directory for the library to `load-path'.

Does that "install" the library?  Dunno what that
word really means in this context.  What it does is
make it possible for `require' and `load-library' to
locate and load the library; that's all (AFAIK).

Keep in mind that loading a library/file need not be
something done systematically (e.g. by `require' in
a file that gets loaded), or something done only by
autoloading.  `load-library' is a command, to let
you load a library interactively.

Is there some clear definition of "installing" a
package in the doc?  Probably, but I haven't checked.

(I don't think of "installing" as applying to a
library that you just load, but maybe I should.  Is
"installing" a library, without using the package
system, defined anywhere in the doc?)

[BTW, for GNU Emacs, "path" means something different.
What you mean here is presumably the absolute file
name (of the directory or the file itself).]