Re: installing elisp .el files

[Ian Jackson <ian@chiark.chu.cam.ac.uk>]

Mark Eichin writes ("Re: installing elisp .el files"):
...
> Byte-compilation depends much more on *speed* than size.  The
> changelog mode doesn't do enough (I assume) to merit the speed
> improvement... gnus, for example, really really needs to be byte
> compiled.  mailcrypt, w3, vm, probably all do as well.  They also
> happen to be big, but that's not the main issue, though there's some
> correlation. 
> 
> Generally, if a package includes an elisp helper file, it probably
> doesn't need to be byte-compiled. If the package is *written*
> primarily in emacs, it's probably complex enough that speed is an
> issue and should be byte compiled. In between it's a convenience
> issue. 

Right.  I'd like to put that last paragraph in the policy manual, if I
may (lightly edited, probably).  Is that OK ?

It would also be good if something like the GNU people's
byte-compilation helper elisp-comp which Erick Branderhorst sent me
could be included in some appropriate package, so that packages can
just use it at build-time.  Let me know if and when this happens so
that I can mention it in the policy manual too.  Text fragments
appreciated, or I might get it wrong.

Ian.