package and testing rant (was Re: package.el, auto-installation, and auto-removal)

[Nic Ferrier <nferrier@ferrier.me.uk>]

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

>> I am still cross about the whole state of packaging. It's wrong. But no
>> one seems to be listening to me.
>
> I'm not sure if you're referring to the way GNU ELPA works or about
> package.el.  About GNU ELPA, it's not that I don't listen, but that
> I disagree.  The point of GNU ELPA to not to just distribute other
> people's packages.

I am cross about the way we are building this system, ELPA.

Not about package.el, or about what ELPA is. But about how ELPA (and
MELPA) work, and to some extent, the provisions we have made for package
creation.

I don't have any complaints about single file packages. My complaints
are all about multi file packages.


The multi-packages users load in their emacs are tars. But the packages
that are checked in to ELPA are directories of files.

So package authors are not checking in what gets delivered to the
user. So there is a magic build step somewhere.

This discourages testing of packages before they are distributed.

And I am really starting to think we need better testing. 24.4 looked
like a slog to release and it still has many bugs.

And yes, I promise to help more. But that's not really the issue. This
isn't scaling. We need to have better QA tools. And packages having
hidden builds is going the other way.


Nic