Subject: bug#67937: 30.0.50; auth-source-pass relies on epa-file being enabled

From: Michael Albinus <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2023 16:00:26 +0100

Arsen Arsenović <[email-masked]> writes:

Hi Arsen,

>>> I disagree.  I think that involving the f-n-h-a mechanism for handling
>>> PGP files ultimately introduces implicitly far more complexity, even if
>>> the code is slightly briefer, precisely because of this dependency.
>>
>> I disagree with your disagreement, and agree with Michael here.  I see
>> no maintainer's complexity in using file-name handlers that could be
>> avoided by not using them: file-name handlers are, and will always be,
>> an integral part of Emacs internals, so thinking about them as
>> "complexity" makes no more sense than, say, thinking about GC as
>> complexity.
>
> In that case, auth-source-pass should ensure it's there.  This is where
> the complexity I refer to creeps in.  Now auth-source-pass needs to
> alter and restore file-name-handler-alist as appropriate.  This means
> that it has to get involved with global state, potentially impacting
> other functions it calls.

No, auth-source-pass should not enable it on its own I believe. It
should fire an error, which hopefully produces a backtrace. This
backtrace would help us to understand, what's up.

> It seems to me more reliable to alter EPA to provide an
> insert-file-contents functions for direct use.  This is less composable
> and elegant than file-name handlers, naturally, but it is also exactly
> what a password-store read requires.

No. There is no reason to implement this.

> Arsen Arsenović

Best regards, Michael.