[Nix-dev] Updating emacs-snapshot package

[Florian Friesdorf]

On Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:30:25 -0500, Shea Levy <shea at shealevy.com> wrote:
> On 1/17/12 7:22 PM, Phil Hagelberg wrote:
> > Is it just discouraged to package prerelease versions of software in 
> > general? If it's merely a question of stability then it shouldn't be a 
> > problem; the Emacs 24 pretest is very stable.
> 
> I don't set the policies, but my thought would be: If there's a 
> significant reason (new feature, important bug fixes, vastly improved 
> performance, etc.) that all users of the package might benefit from a 
> prerelease, then package it, otherwise wait for the official release. 
> I'm not an emacs user, so I don't know what's different in the 
> prerelease version, but if there's a good reason I or someone else can 
> update the snapshot version in nixpkgs.

I'm using emacs and I'd also like to see prerelease versions of 24 in
nix:
- it's claimed to be very stable
- easier to adapt config to changes
- test addons (org and notmuch in my case)
- integrated package manager
- improved themeing

By having prerelease versions of soon to be stable software in nix, we
support people who provide addons or config in adapting them.

I would not do it for every software we have in nix, but as long as
there is one person actually using the prerelease and therefore updating
in case of bugs, I think we should have it. That said, I'm happy to use
and help in maintainting the prerelease expression.

@Phil: btw. thank you for your great starter kit!

-- 
Florian Friesdorf <flo at chaoflow.net>
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