Re: Support for bringing package change logs to the user's attention

[John Wiegley]

>>>>> "CD" == Christopher Done <address@hidden> writes:

CD> I would like that there be explicit support for:

CD> A. When I load an Emacs package that is newer than last time, that
CD> Emacs automatically brings up to my attention a buffer with "what's new"
CD> in the package.

CD> B. Once I've acknowledged by a button or key press that I've really read
CD> the changes, then I never see the buffer again unless I explicitly ask to
CD> see it again.

I would suggest rather than this: for those who haven't opted out, Emacs would
present a y/n prompt saying 'There have been new features added to your Emacs
environment, would you like to hear about them?', and then list them by
package order in a buffer that allows further browsing where interested.

Because some of us using many packages, and update them in bulk using a
package manager, there can be days where I might have 50 updates. If each
package wanted to present me with its NEWS and await a keypress, it could take
several minutes to work through it all.

This is how some Nix packages do it: In the update log they note there is
"news to read", and then offer the command to read it, but without any request
for acknowledgment. We could perhaps add a similar message into the *scratch*
buffer on the splash screen on startup, rather than a y/n prompt.

-- 
John Wiegley                  GPG fingerprint = 4710 CF98 AF9B 327B B80F
http://newartisans.com                          60E1 46C4 BD1A 7AC1 4BA2