Re: Adding packages to ELPA

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Stefan Monnier <address@hidden>
> Cc: address@hidden
> Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 12:34:54 -0400
> 
> >> - GNU ELPA packages can be released on their own schedule.
> > Same is true if they are in the Emacs repository.
> 
> Not really.  There are always interferences one way or the other between
> Emacs's release cycle and the packages's own release cycles.

No, I mean that a package that is part of Emacs can be used to create
a separate tarball disregarding the rest of Emacs.  After all, once
you checkout the repo, they are just file in a certain directory.

> >> - we're not seriously affected by bugs in GNU ELPA packages since they
> >> can be fixed and released independently.
> > This is actually a disadvantage: it contributes to the lower quality
> > of their code.
> 
> I feel like we're already stretched pretty thin, so adding more packages
> into Emacs's core would probably not improve those packages by much, and
> if it does, it'd probably be to the detriment of others.

Maybe you are right, but we will not know that unless we try.  I bet
your feeling of being stretched thin is not based on facts, just on
gut feelings.  I'm not really sure about that.

> >> - the maintainer of `foo' might not like to have to download a 300MB
> >> repository to hack on her 300-lines package.
> > ELPA is currently 52MB on my disk, which is not negligible (if 300MB
> > aren't).  Does this mean you will change your mind when ELPA hits
> > 100MB?
> 
> Indeed, and that is also a problem.  For that reason, more of the newer
> packages are added as branches rather than as directories in the main
> branch.  This mean you don't need the whole repository to hack on them.

I have 1.5TB of disk storage on my main development machine.  I refuse
to believe that these small figures make a difference to someone these
days.