Subject: Re: bug#59882: Multiple versions of Org in load-path problem

From: Stefan Monnier <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2022 09:35:32 -0500

> similar issues with several important Org components (ol-* and ob-*). In
> particular, ob-*.el packages affect Org simply by defining function
> symbols with specific name patters (by ob-core.el design).
> Achieving no side effects is difficult in practice.

That's true.  It can be a balancing act.

> Also, note that side effects are not uncommon in Elisp packages.
> Including, built-ins, like rect.el.
> dired+ comes to mind among popular third-party packages.

Most of them are plain bugs, tho (typically fixed by introducing an
autoloaded minor-mode, so the package is activated by enabling the
minor mode rather than by `require`ing the package).

>     Like I said in another message that I sent just before receiving yours
>     my conclusion came from the fact that hitting 'C-h v' with the cursor
>     on 'org-goto-interface' provided nothing.  It was the first time this
>     ever happened to me.  I did try to explicitly enter the variable's
>     name by entering 'org-goto<TAB>', which (like 'org-go<TAB>') is not
>     enough: it is completed to 'org--goto'.

AFAICT this is a missing feature: we obey `help-enable-autoload` in
`describe-function` but we fail to do the same autoloading dance in
`describe-variable`.

        Stefan