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bug#17403: 24.4.50; package-alist doc-string error
From: |
Stefan Kangas |
Subject: |
bug#17403: 24.4.50; package-alist doc-string error |
Date: |
Sun, 14 Jul 2019 05:22:04 +0200 |
Richard Kim <emacs18@gmail.com> writes:
> I believe the doc-string for package-alist is incorrect.
> Each element is (PKG DESCS) rather than (PKG . DESCS), i.e.,
> each item is (list PKG DESCS) rather than (cons PKG DESCS).
> To fix this, the patch shown below can be applied.
You are correct. There is indeed a difference between what the
documentation says and what the code does. According to the code,
package-alist is *not* an alist, but a list of lists. (This goes back
to at least 2013 AFAICT.)
Yet it has the suffix "-alist".
I see three ways to rectify this:
1) Change the code so that it is an alist.
2) Update the documentation, rename the variable to
something like package-list.
3) Update the documentation, ignore that it's not an alist.
Out of these alternatives, I think the first is by far the least
attractive. It has already been changed to not be an alist once. But
which is the better of alternatives 2 and 3?
It would be good to hear what others think.
Thanks,
Stefan Kangas
- bug#17403: 24.4.50; package-alist doc-string error,
Stefan Kangas <=