Subject: Re: bug#63563: 29.0.91; package.el should not install unselected packages

From: Eli Zaretskii <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 18 May 2023 08:45:40 +0300

tags 63563 notabug
thanks

> From: Jimmy Yuen Ho Wong <[email-masked]>
> Date: Thu, 18 May 2023 03:10:23 +0100
> 
> 1. M-x list-packages
> 2. Press x on a line
> 3. Observer in the echo area package.el is now asking the user to
> whether to install the package.
> 
> Expectation:
> 
> If the user has not pressed i to select the package for installation,
> package.el should not ask the user to confirm anything. There's no
> action to execute. This is unexpected dwim behavior.

>From the Emacs manual:

  ‘x’
       Download and install all packages marked with ‘i’, and their
       dependencies; also, delete all packages marked with ‘d’
       (‘package-menu-execute’).  This also removes the marks.  If no
       packages are marked, this command will install the package under
       point (if it isn’t installed already), or delete the package under
       point (if it’s already installed).

The doc string says similar stuff:

  If no packages are marked, the action taken depends on the state
  of the package under point.  If it’s not already installed, this
  command will install the package, and if it’s installed, it will
  delete the package.

So this is documented behavior.  This is not a bug, but a feature.