GNU bug report logs - #65053
30.0.50; Emacs falsely recommends removal of explicitly installed

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Message #5 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Raoul Comninos <revcomninos <at> gmail.com>
To: bug-gnu-emacs <at> gnu.org
Subject: 30.0.50; Emacs falsely recommends removal of explicitly installed
Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2023 17:15:30 +0200

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

I am encountering a peculiar issue with Emacs's package management system
where it is falsely recommending the removal of packages that I have
explicitly installed via package-install. One such example is the
markdown-mode package.

I have installed the affected packages explicitly using M-x
package-install, so they are not dependencies.

I am using Emacs's built-in package.el for package management.

This behaviour is consistent and affects packages that I want to keep.

The recommendation for removal occurs when I go to the list of packages
(M-x list-packages) and press capital "U" to update packages. Emacs then
prompts me to update the packages and recommends certain packages for
removal, even though I want to keep them.

I have checked the usual scenarios such as package dependencies and made
sure I am using the correct installation method. I am unable to identify
why this is happening.

This thread provides a workaround but does not explain why the package is
excluded or indicate that it is a problem that will be rectified:

How does package-autoremove decide which packages to remove?

Why is Emacs recommending the removal of these explicitly installed
packages, and is this behaviour which I have observed for a long time going
to be fixed?

Emacs Version: 30

Any insights or guidance on this issue would be greatly appreciated!

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Message #8 received at 65053 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Yuan Fu <casouri <at> gmail.com>
To: Raoul Comninos <revcomninos <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 65053 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#65053: 30.0.50; Emacs falsely recommends removal of
 explicitly installed
Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2023 09:16:13 -0700

> On Aug 4, 2023, at 8:15 AM, Raoul Comninos <revcomninos <at> gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I am encountering a peculiar issue with Emacs's package management system where it is falsely recommending the removal of packages that I have explicitly installed via package-install. One such example is the markdown-mode package.
> I have installed the affected packages explicitly using M-x package-install, so they are not dependencies.
> I am using Emacs's built-in package.el for package management.
> This behaviour is consistent and affects packages that I want to keep.
> The recommendation for removal occurs when I go to the list of packages (M-x list-packages) and press capital "U" to update packages. Emacs then prompts me to update the packages and recommends certain packages for removal, even though I want to keep them.
> I have checked the usual scenarios such as package dependencies and made sure I am using the correct installation method. I am unable to identify why this is happening.
> This thread provides a workaround but does not explain why the package is excluded or indicate that it is a problem that will be rectified:
> How does package-autoremove decide which packages to remove?
> Why is Emacs recommending the removal of these explicitly installed packages, and is this behaviour which I have observed for a long time going to be fixed?
> Emacs Version: 30
> Any insights or guidance on this issue would be greatly appreciated!

It could be that package.el is merely suggesting you to remove the old version of these packages, when you update some packages and the new versions are installed.

Yuan

Message #11 received at 65053 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Jim Porter <jporterbugs <at> gmail.com>
To: Raoul Comninos <revcomninos <at> gmail.com>, 65053 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#65053: 30.0.50; Emacs falsely recommends removal of
 explicitly installed
Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2023 10:08:10 -0700

On 8/4/2023 8:15 AM, Raoul Comninos wrote:
> I am encountering a peculiar issue with Emacs's package management 
> system where it is falsely recommending the removal of packages that I 
> have explicitly installed via package-install. One such example is the 
> markdown-mode package.
> 
> I have installed the affected packages explicitly using M-x 
> package-install, so they are not dependencies.

Emacs considers a package to be explicitly installed if (and only if, I 
think) it's listed in 'package-selected-packages'. Make sure the value 
of this variable is what you expect. If it's not, make sure your 
configuration is loading variables that were set by the Customize 
interface; when installing packages interactively, 
'package-selected-packages' is set via the Customize code.

> How does package-autoremove decide which packages to remove?

'package-autoremove' will remove a package if a) it's not in 
'package-selected-packages' and b) nothing else in 
'package-selected-packages' depends on it.

Message #14 received at 65053 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Raoul Comninos <revcomninos <at> gmail.com>
To: Jim Porter <jporterbugs <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 65053 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#65053: 30.0.50; Emacs falsely recommends removal of
 explicitly installed
Date: Sat, 5 Aug 2023 05:34:52 +0200

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

I have checked the variable and it was missing markdown-mode and included a
few packages I had removed. I have tweaked it, and removed and reinstalled
a few packages to align the variable with what is installed in elpa in dot
emacs. The problem occurs on multiple systems in Linux and Windows.

On Fri, 4 Aug 2023 at 19:08, Jim Porter <jporterbugs <at> gmail.com> wrote:

> On 8/4/2023 8:15 AM, Raoul Comninos wrote:
> > I am encountering a peculiar issue with Emacs's package management
> > system where it is falsely recommending the removal of packages that I
> > have explicitly installed via package-install. One such example is the
> > markdown-mode package.
> >
> > I have installed the affected packages explicitly using M-x
> > package-install, so they are not dependencies.
>
> Emacs considers a package to be explicitly installed if (and only if, I
> think) it's listed in 'package-selected-packages'. Make sure the value
> of this variable is what you expect. If it's not, make sure your
> configuration is loading variables that were set by the Customize
> interface; when installing packages interactively,
> 'package-selected-packages' is set via the Customize code.
>
> > How does package-autoremove decide which packages to remove?
>
> 'package-autoremove' will remove a package if a) it's not in
> 'package-selected-packages' and b) nothing else in
> 'package-selected-packages' depends on it.
>

[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

Message #17 received at 65053 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Jim Porter <jporterbugs <at> gmail.com>
To: Raoul Comninos <revcomninos <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 65053 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#65053: 30.0.50; Emacs falsely recommends removal of
 explicitly installed
Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2023 23:01:36 -0700

On 8/4/2023 8:34 PM, Raoul Comninos wrote:
> I have checked the variable and it was missing markdown-mode and 
> included a few packages I had removed. I have tweaked it, and removed 
> and reinstalled a few packages to align the variable with what is 
> installed in elpa in dot emacs. The problem occurs on multiple systems 
> in Linux and Windows.

Did that fix this issue? It sounds like maybe your configuration is 
under version control and something got out of sync?

I've also occasionally seen issues where if a package fails to install, 
it gets removed from 'package-select-packages', but I haven't been able 
to reproduce it. I think that's covered by bug#64995 though.

Message #20 received at 65053 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Raoul Comninos <revcomninos <at> gmail.com>
To: Jim Porter <jporterbugs <at> gmail.com>
Cc: 65053 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#65053: 30.0.50; Emacs falsely recommends removal of
 explicitly installed
Date: Sat, 5 Aug 2023 09:05:11 +0200

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

> Did that fix this issue? It sounds like maybe your configuration is
> under version control and something got out of sync?

It's a bandage, but I don't think it resolves the issue or explains why it
happens.

No version control.

> I've also occasionally seen issues where if a package fails to install,
> it gets removed from 'package-select-packages', but I haven't been able
> to reproduce it. I think that's covered by bug#64995 though.

The issue in my case is unrelated to imcomplete installations.

On Sat, 5 Aug 2023 at 08:01, Jim Porter <jporterbugs <at> gmail.com> wrote:

> On 8/4/2023 8:34 PM, Raoul Comninos wrote:
> > I have checked the variable and it was missing markdown-mode and
> > included a few packages I had removed. I have tweaked it, and removed
> > and reinstalled a few packages to align the variable with what is
> > installed in elpa in dot emacs. The problem occurs on multiple systems
> > in Linux and Windows.
>
> Did that fix this issue? It sounds like maybe your configuration is
> under version control and something got out of sync?
>
> I've also occasionally seen issues where if a package fails to install,
> it gets removed from 'package-select-packages', but I haven't been able
> to reproduce it. I think that's covered by bug#64995 though.
>

[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

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