Re: ;;; anything.el --- open anything

[address@hidden]

On Jul 20, 6:54 pm, Tassilo Horn <address@hidden> wrote:
>
> And here's a bit more. With this patch (against the current emacs wiki
> version, I got it 5 mins ago) it's possible to open completions of type
> file with an external tool. The external tools are completed like in
> eshell, but with the advantage, that the calculation is only performed
> once. It can be disabled completely by the user if she sets
> `anything-external-commands-list' to a list of completions,
> e.g. '("gimp" "xpdf" "gv").
>
> This allows the user to use anything.el as application starter (best
> used with the locate source).

Cool! But see below.

> And another thing: Would you mind setting up a repository for
> anything.el, possibly with git, darcs or another distributed version
> control system? I think it has a lot of potential, attracts many new
> developers and would ease managing and distributing patchsets. The emacs
> wiki file could then be used as a stable version.

I think the development of the base system and the "plugins" should be
separated. I only want to add examples to anything.el, since the
choice of sources are highly subjective (I don't use the defaults
either), so the user is strongly encouraged to set-up sources for his
or her own needs.

The external command source you created is complicated enough that I
don't think it should be added to anything.el, because it may change
or develop faster than anything.el itself.

There should be a page somewhere (maybe on Emacs Wiki) where people
could publish their plugins (sources, actions) and users could cherry
pick the ones they need and assemble their own configurations.

So, regarding the repository you suggested. I won't have too much time
work on anything in the future, so I want to concentrate on the
platform itself (anything.el) and let interested users to come up with
ways to utilize it.

I don't expect radical changes in anything.el, because it's fairly
stable, so the current emacs wiki "version control" method seems
sufficient for now if new sources don't get added to it automatically.

Plugins on the other hand can change and develop quickly, so some kind
of more serious version control method might be justified for them.
But for starters an Emacs Wiki page may be enough for them too.

What do you think?