Re: What is GNU ELPA?

[Dmitry Gutov]

On 15.05.2020 06:19, Richard Stallman wrote:
> What do we say now to explain what GNU ELPA is?
> And where do we say it?

On ELPA's home page: https://elpa.gnu.org/

  GNU Emacs Lisp Package Archive

  The default package repository for GNU Emacs.

And efaq.texi:

  The easiest way to add more features to your Emacs is to use the
command @kbd{M-x list-packages}.  This contacts the
@uref{https://elpa.gnu.org, GNU ELPA} (``Emacs Lisp Package Archive'')
server and fetches the list of additional packages that it offers.
These are GNU packages that are available for use with Emacs, but are
distributed separately from Emacs itself, for reasons of space, etc.
You can browse the resulting @file{*Packages*} buffer to see what is
available, and then Emacs can automatically download and install the
packages that you select.  @xref{Packages,,, emacs, The GNU Emacs Manual}.

It also says:

  There are other, non-GNU, Emacs Lisp package servers, including:
@uref{https://melpa.org, MELPA}; and
@uref{https://marmalade-repo.org, Marmalade}.  To use additional
package servers, customize the @code{package-archives} variable.  Be
aware that installing a package can run arbitrary code, so only add
sources that you trust.

...apparently implying that the user can trust GNU ELPA.

> Will users see that explanation
> in the normal workflow of using packages from GNU ELPA?

I'm not sure they need to. But the FAQ explanation is pretty good.