Re: RE: [External] : Running emacs without any customisation

[Christopher Dimech <dimech@gmx.com>]

> Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2022 at 3:57 AM
> From: "Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com>
> To: "Michael Heerdegen" <michael_heerdegen@web.de>, "help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org" <help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org>
> Subject: RE: [External] : Re: Running emacs without any customisation
>
> > It is an error in a package if loading the package has side effects other
> > than defining functions and variables, recursively loading other stuff,
> > and these things, but not all stuff out there respects that rule.
>
> FWIW, I disagree that "it is an error".
> It may be poor form, unfriendly, or impolite,
> but it's not an error.  And yes, it's a "rule"
> (guideline), and a useful one.
>
> But it need not always be poor form, unfriendly,
> or impolite, provided users are sufficiently
> informed clearly what loading the library does,
> that is, just what side effects it performs.
>
> In general, yes, it's _not_ user-friendly etc.
> In particular, however, it could be.
>
> It's analogous to turning on a minor mode
> (though not the same): If you know what loading
> some package does, and you load it, then you
> are, in effect, turning on a "mode".  It's a
> user _choice_ to load a library.
>
> One big disadvantage, however is that you might
> not have read the doc explaining what loading
> does.  Another big disadvantage is that
> `unload-feature' and `<XXX>-unload-function'
> might not (likely will not) truly reverse
> everything that loading did.
>
> To be clear, I'm not arguing in favor of side
> effects while loading a library.  I'm just
> disagreeing that that's an error, or that it's
> always necessarily a big bad thing.
>
> Your init file is a "library".  You load it.
> It performs side effects.  It's your choice to
> load it (versus `emacs -Q').  Of course, you're
> likely the only user of your init file, so at
> worst you shoot only yourself in the foot.
>
> There's a fuzzy gradation from such a Lisp file
> and a "library" or "package".  (That's Lisp and
> free software.)

From my perspective, the situation in a bit different.  How can
users restore to a fresh system when things get messed up?

There should be clear instructions to users.