Re: Why a site-lisp directory in /usr/local/share/emacs/22.0.50/

[Tim X]

stefano.sabatini-lala@poste.it writes:

> I'm trying to figure out how the load-path is formed, and the
> documentation isn't very clear.
>
> The default load-path should consist initially only by the directories:
>
> <prefix>/share/emacs/site-lisp
> for all the not-flavour-specific libraries, and
> <prefix>/share/emacs/<flavour>
> for all the flavour-specific libraries.
>
> <prefix> is the value of the variable "prefix" defined in the emacs
> Makefile (usually /usr/local/ for a local install).
>
> So I don't understand why there is a site-lisp directory:
> /usr/local/share/emacs/22.0.50/site-lisp
>
> (which is actually empty), in the default flavour libraries dir
> (/usr/local/share/emacs/22.0.50).
>
> Is it simply some backward-compatible-messy-thing (I can happily delete
> it) or is something that actually makes sense?
>
> Thanks.
>

I think its there so that you have an easy way of installing your own
(possibly not distro packaged) emacs add ons which are specific to the
version of emacs your running. This keeps or your local add-ons
apart from distro supplied ones. If your have a /usr/local partition,
it also means you can do a complete re-install of emacs (or even your
linux distro) without impacting on stuff you have added by hand. 

If you put stuff you have installed from tar balls etc within the same
directory hierarchy as the distro packaged emacs, you can get problems
when upgrading the distro version as many package systems will assume
once all the packaged stuff is removed, directories are empty. If they
are not, the package management scripts can fail or possibly get into
a "confused" state.

Tim
 
-- 
tcross (at) rapttech dot com dot au