[bug#50349] [PATCH] packages: Add 'define-package' syntax.

[zimoun]

Hi Sarah,

On Thu, 02 Sep 2021 at 21:06, Sarah Morgensen <iskarian@mgsn.dev> wrote:

> (define-package my-favorite-package
>   (name "my-favorite-package")
>   ...)
>
> The purpose is primarily to save the horizontal indent, but IMO it looks
> better, and is marginally more clear for newcomers.  I think ideally we could
> eventually transition to using this syntax as the primary syntax and only use
> 'define-public' when necessary.

On one hand, I think it is a good idea; especially for newcomers.  On
the other hand, it will break ’git-blame’, isn’t it?

Therefore, I am not convinced such change is worth for ’gnu/packages/’.
Instead it seems worth only for teaching custom packages.  Explaining to
people in my labs, they are often confused between ’define’ and
’define-public’.  But then, there is two “styles” and people could be
more confused.

Well, my feelings are mixed.  Thanks for opening the discussion. :-)


Cheers,
simon