GNU bug report logs - #72961
Possible documentation improvement: Clarification for package installation

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From: Philip Kaludercic <philipk <at> posteo.net>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: Krystian Samp <samp.krystian <at> gmail.com>, 72961 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#72961: Possible documentation improvement: Clarification for package installation
Date: Mon, 02 Sep 2024 18:49:40 +0000

Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org> writes:

>> From: Krystian Samp <samp.krystian <at> gmail.com>
>> Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2024 12:41:11 +0200
>> 
>> 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.
>
> Is package-quickstart.el considered "init file" or not?
>
> And I add Philip to this discussion, as he knows the package.el code
> better than I do.

I believe the documentation here is just outdated.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. 

-- 
	Philip Kaludercic on peregrine

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