I have just spent an hour trying to figure out what's going on with ELPA,
GNU ELPA, NONGNU ELPA packages. I am lost.
A plethora of methods exist for installing org-mode and other packages; it
is unnecessary to list them, even if I could.
I've been using Emacs and Org-mode for many years. I am not interested in
spending an hour of my time to learn a new way to install something that
has been working well for me. I may not use org-mode with the facility of
a programmer who can whip off a quick utility in emacs lisp, but I have
come to depend on the basic tools as a core of my work flow.
I have tried "use package", but I would prefer something straightforward,
like just list-packages then install. I don't understand how to set up my
init file (dot emacs) for various package repos. It was working, that's
all I needed. Now I get a 5 second delay each time I use org-mode. I
cannot seem to find the information I need to fix this. On reddit, on
emacs wiki, on this list, I cannot find the magic search term. I see
advice like "the maintainer has written a very clear explanation of the
issue" but,this very clear explanation does not help me understand what I
need to do.
I guess I need a formula, but I have cut and pasted two or three different
things into the top of my .init file. Perhaps I need to start again, but
my .init file has been taking root for nearly 30 years; it's burned into my
muscle memory.
I hope I will never have to write another email like this to get help for
something that should be simple. Maybe I will now have to install from
git. I think I am already too far out at sea to abandon the packages
approach. I guess it serves me right for stepping off the beach.
Alan Davis
--
"As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we *should
be glad of an opportunity to serve others* by any invention of ours, and
this we should do freely and generously." ---Benjamin Franklin
"This ignorance about the limits of the earth's ability to absorb
pollutants should be reason enough for caution in the release
of polluting substances."
---Meadows et al. 1972. Limits to Growth
<https://www.dartmouth.edu/~library/digital/publishing/meadows/ltg/>.
(p. 81)
