Re: Integrating package.el

[Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>]

> yet. Stefan also mentioned supporting having multiple versions of the
> same project installed at once. Rather than supporting this by
> allowing multiple versions to coexist in a single install location, I
> think it makes more sense to allow multiple install locations. I

I strongly disagree.  I want to be able to install all kinds of versions
in a single spot so I can quickly see which versions are available.
This said, I agree that allowing several install locations is desirable.

Actually the "install" part of the code should be able to install
a package *anywhere*.  Similarly, the activation of a package
(i.e. setting up the autoloads) should be doable from a package located
anywhere.

It doesn't need to be part of the visible UI, but there should be
a command like M-x package-install that takes a file name (a single .el
file or a tarball) and a target directory (defaults to the main "install
location") and installs it there.

The only part that really needs to know about "install locations" is the
part that lets you list all the installed packages, deinstall some of
them, setup/remove activation for some of them, etc...

> I think supporting the distinction between system-level installs vs
> user-level installs is the biggest blocker (besides more thorough
> testing) to including package.el in Emacs.

No, I think the only blocker is the support for multiple
simultaneous versions.  Tho I haven't kept track closely enough to know
if there might be copyright-paperwork issues left.


        Stefan