Re: Async rebuild package-quickstart after packages update? was Re: 28.0.50; Proposal: slightly more efficient package-quickstart.el

[Arthur Miller <arthur.miller@live.com>]

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

>> Do we know what other "relevant variables" are here?
>
> If we're lucky the vars defined in package.el are all we need.
> But of course, the users may also be using a setup where the installed
> packages only work after running some of the `.emacs`.
>
> So one option is to transfer to the subprocess the current value of the
> vars defined in `package.el`.  Another is to tell the subprocess to read
> the init files.
>
> BTW, all these issues are faced (and partly solved) by the `async`
> package we have in GNU ELPA.  We really should try and include it into
> Emacs core.

Stefan prefer to save manpowers vs complicating things, so I think the
most pragmatic thing would be just to start emacs with user settings and
let create quickstart file. As I wrote in another mail, it is an async
process and result is not needed until next restart. Here I definitely
don't think it is worth complicating things to save a second or few.

If the user is sitting and waiting for the quicstart file to refresh to
restart Emacs, than the user would be using this synchronized anyway,
and miss the point of doing it async, isn't it so?

I guess the problem is that use-package has that :ensure flag, which
will download and install package when Emacs starts. I personally have
gone away from use-package, and do all isntallation "offline", not when
Emacs starts, i.e. I suggest manual installation (package-install) if
user would like to install a package and have it immidiately avialable
in current seesion. I don't know if that is problem that motivates
Raman for this change, just guessing, so forgive me if I am wrong here.