[Nix-dev] Updating emacs-snapshot package

[Phil Hagelberg]

Florian Friesdorf <flo at chaoflow.net> writes:

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

I agree. I distribute a lot of my own elisp packages using package.el,
the built-in package manager that is new in Emacs 24. So I try to
encourage my users to upgrade to 24, and since Debian dropped their
emacs-snapshot packages, I would like to recommend nix as an easy way to
get the latest without having to wait or build their own.

> 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.

I will definitely be using it if it gets added. I'll try to help
maintain it too, though I'm still figuring nix packaging out myself.

Marc brings up an important point of deciding on an update frequency. I
don't care about tracking upstream trunk too terribly closely; even
updating every week or two would be plenty for me.

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

Glad it's helpful!

-Phil