05.08.2020 04:43, Bo Grimes wrote:
best advice I found [1], and I did so by backing up my entire emacs.d
and then deleting all .elc files. This worked. I've no understanding of
the underlying technicalities, and I'm pretty sure I had never heard of
byte-compiled files (except in the most general sense unrelated to
Emacs).
[2] The idea that someone would use org-mode and not get "hooked" is
paradoxically unimaginable.
I mean that someone who never heard of emacs may notice e.g. a blog post
related to org-mode. My opinion that =apt install emacs= even without
=apt install elpa-org= is more than enough to try how org-mode works.
=M-x package-install= is unnecessary magic in such case. Decision to
continue to use traditional note taking application is normal in such
circumstances and the person is not org-mode user yet. Next mention of
org-mode still may give better results.
Avoiding =M-x package-install= I am trying to shorten path to really
first attempt to use org-mode.
I have not heard of problems with .elc files before. Frankly speaking, I
am surprised that they exist at all. I would expect comparison of source
file hash with the value saved in compiled file.
Anyway I would expect more problems from previous attempts to install
packages from withing of emacs than from system-wide packages. However I
have just noticed that emacs-common contains ready .elc files, but
elpa-org calls compiler during installation.
I may be wrong but using latest stable version could lead to another
kind of frustrating problems. Projects evolve with different pace, so
accidentally org update could break another package relying on removed
function or variable. I do not know what is more probable. Packages from
system repositories may have more known bugs but still be more predictable.
I suppose, it is up to a particular user to choose if he sticks to
system repositories or to latest upstream releases. Each option has its
weak and strong sides.
As to installation recommendations I would consider something like:
Emacs is a very flexible application and the same is true for org-mode.
Sometimes it is even hard to decide what set of default settings is
better. It gives you great power but require additional responsibility.
Almost certainly you will try to tune emacs and org-mode accordingly to
your preferences. Please, keep your emacs configuration in a version
control system, e.g. git and document the purpose of each change in
commit messages. It would help to review recent changes and revert them
if you noticed some problems. Definitely in addition you could use notes
in an org file to log your activity related to improving emacs
experience to have overview of accepted and rejected options, packages, etc.
However I am in doubt if git could be a rescue in the case of issues
with .elc files.
Personally I prefer clearly separated roles of installing software and
using it, otherwise much more security issues arise.
