Subject: Re: bug#22669: loading term/xterm.elc loads cl-lib at runtime

From: Eli Zaretskii <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2016 17:55:23 +0200

> From: Glenn Morris <[email-masked]>
> Cc: [email-masked]
> Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2016 01:34:10 -0500
> 
> > these files are only loaded at startup when needed, so they are not
> > something "emacs -Q" "needs".
> 
> term/xterm is needed in 90+% of -nw or without-X builds on GNU/Linux.
> (Pulling a reasonable number from the air. All the terminal emulators
> people actually use load term/xterm.)
> So IME that counts as "effectively preloaded" and therefore makes this
> something worth fixing.

Perhaps I don't understand the policy.  My interpretation of it is
that we preload stuff that is needed by 100% of builds during every
startup.  Under this interpretation, 90+% is not enough, especially
since there are also GUI sessions which don't need that at all.

So I don't think your observation convinces me, even if I agree with
your 90+% figure.  I don't think we should punish the rest of the
users by preloading a non-trivial amount of code they might never
need.