Re: Option to not automatically customize-save-variable `package-selected-packages'

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Wed, 17 Feb 2016 23:43:10 -0200
> From: Artur Malabarba <address@hidden>
> 
> > Angelo, would you open a bug on this matter so that we can track it 
> > properly,
> > and you'll be included on the discussion?
> 
> Since nobody replied to my call for volunteers (and I sadly really can't do 
> it now), we should probably file a bug and mark it as blocking release 25.

I don't see why this should block the release.  It's a very old and
established behavior.  It's okay to discuss changing it, but blocking
the release due to it certainly doesn't sound TRT to me.

> > Perhaps the experts in this area have better reasons than we've
> > heard so far.
> 
> IIRC, the discussions for this feature included me, Stefan, and Thierry 
> Volpiatto (amongst other people).

Can you point to those discussions?  If you mean this one:

  http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2015-01/msg00756.html

then after reading it, I'm none the wiser: I don't see the issue with
saving customizations in a separate file raised there.

I found in this thread the following part:

> > > Unfortunately whenever I install/update packages, it saves
> > > `package-selected-packages' to my customize file. This is a bit annoying 
> > > as I
> > > share my config with git across multiple machines that have different 
> > > packages
> > > installed.
> >
> > > While I could alter the definition of `package--save-selected-packages'
> > > myself, I'd think it would be nicer if there was a user option to toggle
> > > this behaviour. The default initialization of `all non-dependencies' seems
> > > to be what I'd always want anyway.
> >
> > This sounds like a reasonable request to me; and I sympathize with emitting
> > such generated data to a potentially user-controlled file. Maybe this data
> > could go into another file entirely?
> 
> Yes, I agree. This has been requested by other people too. This variable 
> should be saved in its own file (at a configurable location), like many other 
> cases of persistent data in Emacs.
> 
> Would someone like to do this? I won't have the time for it ATM.

This seems to be a general complaint about package.el using Custom to
save the data about installed packages.  I see no arguments as to why
it's wrong to use Custom for that.  After all, Custom is our standard
way of saving customizations, so it could be argued that having a
single mechanism through which to control where they are saved is
better than inventing a separate mechanism just for package.el.

> My opinion now is in agreement with yours, John, and with Angelo in that this 
> should move to a dedicated file (though I originally thought using the custom 
> settings was a good idea). 

Please explain why you now think differently.

Thanks.