I have just spent an hour trying to figure out what's going on with ELPA, GNU ELPA, NONGNU ELPA packages.  I am lost.

A plethora of methods exist for installing org-mode and other packages; it is unnecessary to list them, even if I could.

I've been using Emacs and Org-mode for many years.  I am not interested in spending an hour of my time to learn a new way to install something that has been working well for me.  I may not use org-mode with the facility of a programmer who can whip off a quick utility in emacs lisp, but I have come to depend on the basic tools as a core of my work flow.

I have tried "use package",  but I would prefer something straightforward, like just list-packages then install.  I don't understand how to set up my init file (dot emacs) for various package repos.  It was working, that's all I needed.  Now I get a 5 second delay each time I use org-mode.  I cannot seem to find the information I need to fix this.  On reddit, on emacs wiki, on this list, I cannot find the magic search term.  I see advice like "the maintainer has written a very clear explanation of the issue" but,this very clear explanation does not help me understand what I need to do.

I guess I need a formula, but I have cut and pasted two or three different things into the top of my .init file.  Perhaps I need to start again, but my .init file has been taking root for nearly 30 years; it's burned into my muscle memory.

I hope I will never have to write another email like this to get help for something that should be simple.  Maybe I will now have to install from git.  I think I am already too far out at sea to abandon the packages approach.  I guess it serves me right for stepping off the beach.


Alan Davis

--
      "As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously."   ---Benjamin Franklin

      "This ignorance about the limits of the earth's ability to absorb
       pollutants should be reason enough for caution in the release
       of polluting substances."
                   ---Meadows et al.   1972.  Limits to Growth.      (p. 81)