Re: pkg-autoloads.el vs. pkg-loaddefs.el

[Stefan Monnier]

> I'd assert more - most users are not aware about the intricacies we
> are talking about here.

That, I can definitely agree with.  🙂

>> Maybe we should provide some alternative for "late activation" which
>> does pass the `reload` argument?
> Maybe. Although I am afraid that having multiple ways to activate
> packages will only confuse people who struggle from the problem most.

I tend to agree.  I think we should try and actively discourage users to
get into such situations.  I.e. focus on detecting the problem and
report it to the user rather than patching it up.

>> We don't do that by default in an effort to try and keep startup time
>> under control and also because reloading is a hack which works only
>> partly and can even have unpredictable effects, so it's really much
>> better to try and avoid it in the first place.
> May an approach like `require-with-check' be used here?  Then, the
> reloading only occurs when there is a potential mixing of package
> versions.

Could be, tho I'm not sure exactly what "an approach like
`require-with-check`" would look like.


        Stefan