Elpa packages and Makefiles

[Eric Abrahamsen]

I'm slowly working on a getting a package Elpa-ready, and have just a
few more questions. One is the role of a Makefile.

The only targets I really need are compilation, autoloads, and texinfo.
My understanding is that Elpa deployment will do all these things for me
(the last dependent on the presence of "<package>.texi" and "dir"
files). I don't need a Makefile for that.

But I would like to also make the package installable straight from
github or other locations, in which case a Makefile will still be
necessary.

In the Elpa repo I've seen packages with Makefiles, with no Makefiles,
and even with Makefiles that contain an "elpa" target. My question is,
will Elpa deployment honor an existing Makefile (in which case, which
targets are used?), ignore it, or conflict -- ie I should .elpaignore it
or something.

Thanks!
E