Re: GnuTLS for W32

["Óscar Fuentes" <ofv@wanadoo.es>]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

[snip]

>> Just set dynamic-library-alist as it contains ('gnutls
>> . "/path/to/gnutls/gnutls.dll") (or whatever are the right names).
>
> Putting DLLs in arbitrary places is not TRT.

Nobody is suggesting an *arbitrary* place. Where ELPA puts its files is
anything but arbitrary.

> We should put it in the
> same directory where emacs.exe lives, and then there's no need to do
> anything with dynamic-library-alist.

Depending on how Emacs was installed, that would require elevated
privileges, something ELPA can not ask for, AFAIK. Please keep in mind
that we (or at least Ted and I) are discussing the feasibility of using
ELPA for providing and updating the required dll for Emacs STARTTLS
capability to work on Windows.

>> Installing a dll intended to be used by Emacs on a shared place is
>> asking for trouble.
>
> Please give me the credit that when I do that I know what I'm doing.
> I have been doing that for years with no problems at all.

Yes, putting the dll along the emacs executable on the same directory
works, that's what I do with my own software. However, my applications
require a privileged user to upgrade or install new components (unless
the user is Administrator on a pre MS Windows Vista machine, something
that is as common as malware targeting those same users).

> I'm sure
> others have succeeded in learning a few simple rules of how to do this
> safely.  That's why an _option_ to do it available to knowledgeable
> users would be a bonus.  The default place should be where emacs.exe
> lives.

Precisely, knowledgeable users would have no problem with putting GnuTLS
along with emacs.exe. A bit annoying, yes. Not very admin-friendly,
too. The non-knowledgeable users would have a problem, because once they
configure Emacs to send mail, they will receive an error
message. Hopefully the message will include detailed, up-to-date
instructions on how to obtain and install the dll, but it would be much
better if Emacs asked: "for this operation Emacs needs to download and
install a library from the Emacs code repository. Do you want to
proceed?" and then everything goes on smoothly. In the general case,
that dll can't be installed by ELPA along emacs.exe, for the reasons
already explained.