Re: [External] : Re: Shrinking the C core

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Emanuel Berg <incal@dataswamp.org>
> Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2023 04:46:45 +0200
> 
> Richard Stallman wrote:
> 
> >> 466 out of 1637 Lisp files in Emacs require cl-lib (some of
> >> them only during compilation, i.e. they use only the
> >> macros).
> >
> > If a file uses cl only during compilation (for macros) it is
> > not much of a problem. How many use it at run time?
> >
> > I reported one file a few weeks ago that is always (or
> > nearly always) loaded and uses cl-lib, forcin it to be
> > nearly always loaded too. That should be fixed.
> 
> But if it is shipped and included with vanilla Emacs, which it
> is, how can it be either any more or any less (dis)encouraged
> for use than anything else included on the same premises?
> 
> If something isn't part of vanilla Emacs one can maybe say
> "see if you can do without it, because if you use it, it has
> to be brought in externally adding complexity" - perhaps.
> 
> But it _is_ included so in terms of technology it is on the
> same level as everything else included. Are we gonna have one
> big toolbox containing a bunch of tools, but on certain tools
> put on little stickers saying "don't use this"?

This thread is not for casual users of Emacs, it is for active Emacs
developers and maintainers.  So please just read it and don't try to
chime in, as that doesn't help.