Re: bug#73812: 30.0.91; ERC 5.6.0.30.1: Customizing erc-modules loads ERC when starting Emacs
"J.P." <[email protected]> Tue, 15 Oct 2024 11:00:38 -0700
| Newsgroups | gmane.emacs.erc.general |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
Eli Zaretskii <[email protected]> writes: >> Cc: [email protected], Eli Zaretskii <[email protected]> >> From: "J.P." <[email protected]> >> Date: Mon, 14 Oct 2024 19:57:00 -0700 >> >> >From emacs -Q >> >> 1. $ mkdir /tmp/fake-home >> 2. $ echo "(custom-set-variables '(erc-modules ()))" > /tmp/fake-home/.emacs >> 3. $ HOME=/tmp/fake-home ./src/emacs >> 4. M-: (featurep 'erc) RET >> >> Eli, can we add this patch to the release branch? It removes a single >> line containing an autoload cookie that's new in Emacs 30. (I'm running >> the check-expensive suite with the patch now.) Thanks. > > Are we sure this doesn't break any customization scenarios? The worst case is probably someone unaware of the implicit loading who recently added code referring to symbols defined in erc.el after an Emacs-managed `custom-set-variables' form in their `custom-file' (or a `:custom' section in a `use-package' declaration). These customizations would necessarily have to contain an entry for `erc-modules', but this is perhaps the most common ERC customization. However, the user would have to be running the pre-release or master. > Why was this line added in the first place? The line was initially added in a misguided attempt to allow new users unfamiliar with Emacs to run M-x customize-option RET erc-modules RET without first having to run M-: (require 'erc) RET. > And why is it urgent to remove it before Emacs 30 is released? ERC has a great many symbols, which people won't want to see in completion tables, etc. Longtime ERC users trying Emacs 30 for the first time may find ERC loading whenever they start Emacs, which may not be desirable in all Emacs sessions. And since, as mentioned, `erc-modules' is likely among the most commonly customized of ERC's options, this may also affect non-ERC users who perhaps only tried it once many years ago or even folks using a shared config containing such a customization. For these reasons, I suspect we'll start noticing ERC-related pollution in the automated evidence collection for bug reports filed with M-x report-emacs-bug RET once Emacs 30 goes mainstream.