Re: Moving packages out of core to ELPA

[JD Smith]

> On Feb 17, 2024, at 11:51 AM, Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> wrote:
> 
>> From: JD Smith <jdtsmith@gmail.com>
>> 
>>> On Feb 17, 2024, at 10:51 AM, Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> We usually first retire such packages to lisp/obsolete/.  There, they
>>> are still available, but need to be loaded manually.  Moving something
>>> directly to ELPA might be too drastic, assuming someone somewhere
>>> still want to use it.
>> 
>> Does that reduce the maintenance burden, for example because code in 
>> lisp/obsolete does not receive updates to documentation, stylistic code 
>> changes, etc.?  Do you typically also remove the associated entry in 
>> auto-mode-alist when obsoleting in this fashion?
> 
> Yes, I think so (on both counts).

OK, then I suppose staging in lisp/obsolete/ makes sense.  I do worry about the 
connotations of obsolete meaning "stop using", "does not work at all" or "soon 
to vanish".  In fact IDLWAVE does still work and is useful for a small set of 
users, it just does more harm than good in core, IMO.  

One idea would be to create another category for packages "on their way out" of 
core.  I'm sure there's a better name, but lisp/noncore comes to mind.  The 
intended difference being that obsolete packages will likely disappear entirely 
from the project, whereas "noncore" packages will be migrated to ELPA, where 
users can find them once they have left core for good.