Re: Not using DOC for ELisp files

[Stefan Monnier]

>> The patch below removes from the DOC file the docstrings coming from
>> ELisp files.
> What does this mean in terms of the run-time requirements in order to
> get the doc strings for preloaded files?  Does it mean their *.elc
> files should be available from the installation tree?

Yes, it means the docstring are fetched from the likes of
`lisp/files.elc` (as is already the case for the non-preloaded files)
instead of from `etc/DOC`.

> Or does it mean the *.el files (which might be compressed) must
> be available?

No, the `.el` files are not used any more than before.

> And what does this mean for a natively-compiled installation?

I don't think this has any impact.

> If there are any non-trivial consequences of this change, i.e. distros
> will now need to make sure something happens that they didn't before,
> I think we should get their opinions before we install this.

The only non-trivial consequence I can think of is when the compiled
preloaded files are missing.  E.g. if the distros remove
`lisp/files.elc`.  I don't aware of any distro/packaging doing it (even
tho it did make sense doing so to save a few bytes).


        Stefan