"Stefan Monnier" <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> wrote:

> > Is this something you all think would be appropriate?
>
> I don't think that would solve the problem: we don't want to force
> people to install a newer package.el to access GNU ELPA with Emacs<=24.3.
>
> IOW the only solution is to make sure that whatever new feature we
> implement does not break access with older package.el.

The version of package.el shipped with 24.2 is forward-compatible for both
-pkg.el files and archive-contents. It simply ignores any additional
attributes at the end of the package-desc vectors.

So older versions won't break, but they (obviously) won't use the the new
features.

> > I propose an ELPA-installable package called `cl-lib' which would be
> > like 24.3's `cl', but in reverse. It would consist of a bunch of aliases
> > to the `cl' functions and macros so that authors on <= 24.2 could use
> > `cl-*' functions without excluding everyone not on 24.3.
>
> I think that would be fine.  Even better if it also works for Emacs-23.

I'll look into it. I don't know the internals of cl at all. Is there
anything else needed other than a big giant pile of `defalias's?