Re: CC Mode version number for Emacs 25.2

[Alan Mackenzie]

Hello, Alexander.

On Sat, Jan 07, 2017 at 11:02:10PM +0100, Alexander Shukaev wrote:
> On 12/22/2016 05:34 PM, Alan Mackenzie wrote:
> > Hello, Alexander.

[ .... ]

> > CC Mode is not available through package.el.  There's either the
> > version in an Emacs release (which is frozen at pretest time,
> > typically several months before the release), or there's the stand
> > alone version (which can be any age) available from
> > http://cc-mode.sourceforge.net/.  The latest stand alone version,
> > 5.33, was released in August 2016.

> > Alternatively, you can use the head of the VCS repository either at
> > savannah (for the entire Emacs version) or at sourceforge (for just
> > CC Mode).


> Hello Alan,

> To me that looks like a major problem.  It means that I have three 
> options to keep track of your package:

> 1.  Install it manually by copying corresponding '*.el' files into my 
> Emacs configuration repository and shadow `load-path' on my own properly.
> 2.  Make your repository to be a submodule of mine (what does not work 
> for me since you are using Mercurial, while I use Git) and shadow 
> `load-path' on my own properly.
> 3.  Use `el-get' to do that management for me.

> All of these I find unacceptable: #1 smells like 90's (or earlier), #2 
> already mentioned, #3 requires another dependency that I don't want to 
> deal with at the moment.  All of that brings up a simple question: why 
> such a widespread and useful package is not packaged on MELPA and other 
> popular online archives?

Largely because of the extra work involved in creating and maintaining
these extra copies of CC Mode (much of which would be about finding out
how to do it).

I already maintain CC Mode in three places (CC Mode at SourceForge, the
Emacs repostitory, the XEmacs package repository).  If I were to add a
fourth, just how much testing would that involve each time I fix a bug or
add a feature?

If you don't like this situation, you could do the work yourself to set
up and maintain CC Mode in ELPA or MELPA.  This would have to be a long
term commitment, by the way (otherwise the ELPA/MELPA versions would fall
into disrepair, adversely affecting the reputation of CC Mode).  I could
certainly work together with you to assist in this.

> Kind regards,
> Alexander

-- 
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).