Re: package.el, auto-installation, and auto-removal

[Stefan Monnier]

>> Ah, that's where you're going.  I kind of like the idea, but I don't
>> like the idea of editing the content of packages in ~/.emacs.d/elpa
>> (even if only for some "special" packages like "user-package").
> You don't edit that. You edit the source somewhere else and then
> automatically install it.
> I'd suggest that the package could be constructed automatically every
> time.  If the necessary data is kept in a customize variable anyway it
> doesn't matter about the package source.
> It only matters that a package is a good way to load other packages.

If you want your "user-packages" package to be versioned, or if other
packages start refer to such meta-packages, then I can agree that it
could make sense, but otherwise I get the sensation that
- de-install the previous user-packages package.
- make up a dummy .el file with the Package-Requires: header.
- install this dummy .el package.
is kind of contrived.

Within package.el we could handle it is a special kind of package
instead, but I'd rather try to avoid reifying it into an actual
directory under ~/.emacs.d/elpa.


        Stefan