Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> writes:
[...]
> Having a package in ELPA means that it can be updated independently
> from Emacs.
>
> Having packages in elpa.git instead of emacs.git makes their release
> schedules independent.
>
> Having bundled packages in both emacs.git and in elpa.git means
> 2 branches to keep in sync.
Yes, yes, and yes. I understand all those points. What I don't
understand is why we don't move org, gnus, and other built-in packages
which aren't "super-core" (i.e., not everybody needs them) from
emacs.git to elpa.git? Then all points above still apply, and emacs
releases are a bit more lightweight. I mean, for fast-evolving packages
like org and company, if emacs 25.1 bundles version X, the next day
version X+1 is available from ELPA anyway.
The only downside I can see is that users upgrading from Emacs 24 to 25
might get startup errors because formerly built-in packages aren't
anymore. But that can be documented easily:
If you used the built-in org-mode version in Emacs < 25, do
1. emacs -Q
2. M-x package-install RET org RET
3. Now you can restart emacs without -Q
Or even better, there could be some hack that when emacs 25.1 is started
the first time puts the user in a package manager tutorial that guides
him thru the process of installing packages with an emphasis on formerly
built-in packages.
Bye,
Tassilo