Mark Eichin writes ("Re: installing elisp .el files"): ... > Byte-compilation depends much more on *speed* than size. The > changelog mode doesn't do enough (I assume) to merit the speed > improvement... gnus, for example, really really needs to be byte > compiled. mailcrypt, w3, vm, probably all do as well. They also > happen to be big, but that's not the main issue, though there's some > correlation. > > Generally, if a package includes an elisp helper file, it probably > doesn't need to be byte-compiled. If the package is *written* > primarily in emacs, it's probably complex enough that speed is an > issue and should be byte compiled. In between it's a convenience > issue.
Right. I'd like to put that last paragraph in the policy manual, if I may (lightly edited, probably). Is that OK ? It would also be good if something like the GNU people's byte-compilation helper elisp-comp which Erick Branderhorst sent me could be included in some appropriate package, so that packages can just use it at build-time. Let me know if and when this happens so that I can mention it in the policy manual too. Text fragments appreciated, or I might get it wrong. Ian.