elint warnings

[Sebastien Vauban]

Hello,

When elint'ing simple .emacs files such as:

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
(when (require 'package)

  ;; archives from which to fetch
  (setq package-archives
        (append '(("org"       . "http://orgmode.org/elpa/";)
                  ("melpa"     . "http://melpa.milkbox.net/packages/";)
                  ("marmalade" . "http://marmalade-repo.org/packages/";)
                  ("ELPA"      . "http://tromey.com/elpa/";))
                package-archives))

  ;; ...

  )

;; ensure a file ends in a newline when it is saved
(setq require-final-newline t)
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

I get hundreds of warnings (in the real case, with many more lines in my
.emacs file), such as:

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
Linting d:/Users/fni/src/emacs-leuven/elint.el

In top level expression:
elint.el:1:Warning: Setting previously unbound symbol: package-archives
elint.el:1:Warning: Reference to unbound symbol: package-archives

In top level expression:
elint.el:16:Warning: Setting previously unbound symbol: require-final-newline

Linting finished.
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

I don't understand them: why is `package-archives' said to be unknown, while
it will only execute after the lib `package' has been loaded?

So, elint does not load the packages?  Then, what's the purpose of elint?  Why
real warnings should I be aware of (and how)?

Best regards,
  Seb

-- 
Sebastien Vauban