Re: GNU-devel and NonGNU-devel

[Stefan Monnier]

> What are the exact differences in theory and practice between
> elpa.gnu.org/devel and elpa.gnu.org/packages, and
> elpa.nongnu.org/nongnu-devel and elpa.nongnu.org/nongnu?

The devel archives contain tarballs which reflect the current tip of the
Git branch (the one stored in `elpa.git` or `nongnu.git`, not
necessarily the same as the one upstream).

In contrast the non-devel archives only contain tarballs for those
commits where the `Version:` was changed.

> Are the devel archives intended as (possibly WIP) counterparts to MELPA?

It can be thought of as following the model of the non-stable part of
MELPA, but that doesn't make it MELPA to me at all since MELPA is
defined rather by the breadth of its coverage.

> Based on which criteria are new versions of devel packages released, and
> are they subject to :auto-sync in the same way as non-devel packages?

Sync'ing the elpa.git/nongnu.git branches with their upstream is
somewhat orthogonal to the devel-vs-release archives: the sync'ing is
always done between the upstream and the corresponding
elpa.git/nongnu.git branch.  This sync'ing is done for all package in
nongnu.git and only for those tagged with :auto-sync in elpa.git.
Once a sync brings changes to a branch, that will always result in a new
tarball in the devel archive, but it will only result in a new package
in the release archive is the `Version:` changed.

> Can the two devel archives be used as drop-in replacements for the
> default package-archives?

If you're willing to use bleeding edge code, yes.

> What are the pros/cons of doing so from a user's perspective?

The risk of breakage?


        Stefan