Subject: bug#72961: closed (Re: bug#72961: Possible documentation improvement: Clarification for package installation)

From: [email-masked] (GNU bug Tracking System)
Date: Thu, 05 Sep 2024 06:30:02 +0000

Your bug report

#72961: Possible documentation improvement: Clarification for package installation

which was filed against the emacs package, has been closed.

The explanation is attached below, along with your original report.
If you require more details, please reply to [email-masked].

-- 
72961: https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=72961
GNU Bug Tracking System
Contact [email-masked] with problems

Subject: Re: bug#72961: Possible documentation improvement: Clarification for package installation
From: Eli Zaretskii <[email-masked]>
To: Philip Kaludercic <[email-masked]>
Cc: [email-masked], [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 05 Sep 2024 09:24:54 +0300
List-Id: <debbugs-submit.debbugs.gnu.org>

> From: Philip Kaludercic <[email-masked]>
> Cc: Krystian Samp <[email-masked]>,  [email-masked]
> Date: Mon, 02 Sep 2024 18:49:40 +0000
> 
> I believe the documentation here is just outdated.  From NEWS.27:
> 
>   ** Installed packages are now activated *before* loading the init file.
>   As a result of this change, it is no longer necessary to call
>   'package-initialize' in your init file.
> 
>   Previously, a call to 'package-initialize' was automatically inserted
>   into the init file when Emacs was started.  This call can now safely
>   be removed.
> 
> Otherwise it might also refer to the fact that user option
> `package-selected-packages' is saved, which by default will be stored in
> the default Emacs configuration file. 

Thanks, I've updated the text accordingly on the emacs-30 release
branch, and I'm therefore closing this bug.

Subject: Possible documentation improvement: Clarification for package installation
From: Krystian Samp <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2024 12:41:11 +0200
List-Id: <debbugs-submit.debbugs.gnu.org>

Hello,

I was reading the section on "Libraries of Lisp Code for Emacs" (section
28.8) in the Emacs manual, and I encountered a passage that seems a bit
unclear. The text suggests that when using package-install, Emacs might
automatically add initialization code to the init.el file, which doesn’t
seem to match my experience.

Specifically, the manual states: "Installing a package using
package-install takes care of placing the package’s Lisp files in a
directory where Emacs will find it, and also writes the necessary
initialization code into your init files [...]"

>From my understanding, package-install does not modify init.el directly,
which is how I interpret the documentation above. Instead, Emacs calls
package-initialize which makes the installed packages available,
automatically.

I want to check if this is a valid concern / interpretation that warrants a
documentation change. If so, I'll be happy to create a patch.

Looking forward to your thoughts.
Krystian