Re: [POLL] Should we accept breaking changes to get rid of Org libraries that perform side effects when loading?

[Bastien Guerry <bzg@gnu.org>]

Thanks a lot for the detailed clarification.

The Elisp coding convention explicitely targets Emacs "editing
behavior".  The definition of a new function is not a side-effect 
that affects Emacs editing behavior, so Babel and export libs are
OK.

Ihor Radchenko <yantar92@posteo.net> writes:

> Finally, we have org-mouse.el discussed here, which modifies key
> bindings and org-inlinetask.el, which modifies how Org treats headlines
> in Org files, modifying syntax.

org-mouse.el should not modify default Org _editing_ key bindings.
Is it really the case?  If so, can we fix this?

Does org-inlinetask.el modifies the way non-inline headlines are
edited?  If so, can we fix this?  IIRC org-inlinetask.el only adds
editing function for inline tasks, it is an extension, not a
modification of the default Org editing behavior, but the limit
can be thin here.

> With the current state of affairs, it is often enough to
> (require 'org-library) to get things work. If we get rid of all the
> possible side effects, users will have to adapt their configurations
> and we will thus violate "I won't force you to update your
> configuration."
>
> Of course, we can change babel implementation to use explicit registry
> like for export backends and force users to call explicit activation
> commands in addition to (require 'library). But I am not sure if we are
> not crossing the line with such an approach: "I won't use software
> correctness as an excuse.".

Defining new functions is a desirable "side-effect" of all Elisp
library, I don't think we should worry abou this.

-- 
 Bastien Guerry