default.el and site-start.el

default.el and site-start.el

[Michael M Mason]

As Emacs provides for two site-wide start-up files, I assume that they
are intended to be used for different purposes.  What should go in
default.el and what should go in site-start.el?

-- 
Michael

Re: default.el and site-start.el

[Daniel Jensen]

Michael M Mason <mmmason@ntlworld.com> writes:

> As Emacs provides for two site-wide start-up files, I assume that they
> are intended to be used for different purposes.  What should go in
> default.el and what should go in site-start.el?

Have you read the section "Init File" in the manual?

`C-h i g (Emacs) Init File'

-- 
Daniel Jensen
Editing is a rewording activity.

Re: default.el and site-start.el

[Michael M Mason]

On Fri, 27 Jun 2003 13:42:24 +0200, Daniel Jensen
<daniel-news@bigwalter.net> wrote:

>Michael M Mason <mmmason@ntlworld.com> writes:
>
>> As Emacs provides for two site-wide start-up files, I assume that they
>> are intended to be used for different purposes.  What should go in
>> default.el and what should go in site-start.el?
>
>Have you read the section "Init File" in the manual?

Yes: it doesn't explain why there are two site-wide init
files, hence the question.

-- 
Michael

Re: default.el and site-start.el

[Kai Großjohann]

Michael M Mason <admin@cambridge-optical.com> writes:

> Yes: it doesn't explain why there are two site-wide init
> files, hence the question.

site-start.el is loaded before .emacs, whereas default.el is loaded
after .emacs.  People can set inhibit-default-init in their .emacs
to, well, inhibit loading of default.el.  Obviously a variable
inhibit-site-start is not possible.

It's a matter of taste.  If you think that the sysadmin should set up
some defaults that users can turn off easily, then default.el is for
you.  If you think that the sysadmin should set up some defaults that
the users can then later each overwrite with their personal settings,
then site-start.el is for you.

Personally, I define lots of functions in site-start.el and tell
users to invoke them in their .emacs file.  This way, they can choose
to use or not use certain "packages".
-- 
~/.signature

Re: default.el and site-start.el

[Stefan Monnier]

> Yes: it doesn't explain why there are two site-wide init
> files, hence the question.

site-start.el should be used to set up locally-installed packages
(i.e. setup autoloads for them, set the load-path, set the auto-mode-alist).

I don't actually use default.el because it can create surprise
when the user sets something in his .emacs and it gets overridden by
default.el.

It is generally desirable to keep "configuration" in those files to
a minimum: only setup locally installed packages, provide some more
meaningful defaults for news-server address, mail-server address and things
like that, but that's about it.


        Stefan

Re: default.el and site-start.el

[David Masterson]

>>>>> Stefan Monnier writes:

> I don't actually use default.el because it can create surprise when
> the user sets something in his .emacs and it gets overridden by
> default.el.

Users should tend toward 'setq' in their .emacs while admins should
tend toward 'defvar' (or 'defcustom') in default.el. (CMIMW) defvar
doesn't override the value set by setq.

-- 
David Masterson                David DOT Masterson AT synopsys DOT com
Sr. R&D Engineer               Synopsys, Inc.
Software Engineering           Sunnyvale, CA