Re: Moving packages out of core to ELPA

[JD Smith <jdtsmith@gmail.com>]

> On Feb 18, 2024, at 9:08 AM, Po Lu <luangruo@yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> JD Smith <jdtsmith@gmail.com> writes:
> 
>> This is the slippery slope I alluded to, and it is a credible
>> argument.  To explore its boundaries, let's consider a scenario in
>> which the IDL language were well and truly dead.  No existing licensed
>> interpreter capable of running IDL code existed any longer on any
>> system (licenses expire).  Would maintaining this package in the core
>> be worth it at that point?  If not, this indicates that the costs are
>> indeed non-zero.
> 
> No, the question of cost to maintainence is simply moot if the software
> should become irreversibly useless.  Please, let's be reasonable,
> consider realistic scenarios, and save the extreme hypotheticals for
> another day.

I don't judge this to be an unreasonable or extreme hypothetical.  I (sadly) give a 25% chance that this actually happens in the next 10 years — a demonstrable peril of non-free software.