Re: [RFC] Micro-Init files in GNU ELPA & Survey suggestions(Re: Finding packages to enable by default)

[Jambunathan K]

Tom <address@hidden> writes:

> How do you make sure one user can upvote a feature only once and doesn't
> boost the score of his favorite feature with several edits? Emacs Wiki
> requires no login and stuff.

You - Tom, The field worker and statistician - are offloaded.

The statistics could be indicative/representative.  i.e., it is not only
the statistic but one among the many data set collected.  It is not
necessary for the figures to be accurate.

In Emacswiki, certain pages can be password protected.  So, if you
create a special cookie and hide it in a trail where intermediate to
experienced folks take a walk, then the task is done.  There would be
less fudging.

More than anything else - Plain Old, Trust.

>> I think GNU ELPA is a nice place to create "sharable init files".  The
>> init file is not a monolith, but focuses on a particular usecase.
>> 
>> Once such a file is introduced, these files themselves will have a life
>> of their own. They become a "clearing house for common configuration"
>> for a particular use-case.  These files can also serve as bickering
>> points for evolving a consensus what goes in what value it takes.
>
> Will this consensus be representative?

It's just one more datapoint to rely on.

The biggest advantage is it will be very useful.  Anyways, it is a nice
experiment.

It is a practical solution to age-old tradition of sharing init files
and welcoming

Instead of being P2P and the resulting inherent fragmentation and
distortion of information it would centralize the common configuration.

If a user asks, how to use Gnus to read Gmail, you say install gmail.el
and put your password and username here.  Done.  One more user
converted.

> Won't average users just add the necessary lines to their own init
> files where they can modify them, leaving the bickering to the usual
> emacs-devel contributors?

The package maintainer - not the Emacs maintainers - will take a hit.
Emacs maintainers merely have to bootstrap and encourage the use of it.

Average users and not-so serious users don't sign copyright assignments
or disclaimers.  I like to think of CA or CD as a barrier or a gate to
keep away mildly interesting folks.

Speaking of copyright, these are configuration files.  So a different
sort of copyright policy could be appropriate for these files.

I also suggest having a non-GNU elpa hosted on savannah.

    http://elpa.nongnu.org