Bow out of native-compilation

Write an essay about it.

1 files changed, 23 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.local/bin/emacs-build b/.local/bin/emacs-build
index 280913f..c244934 100755
--- a/.local/bin/emacs-build
+++ b/.local/bin/emacs-build
@@ -10,6 +10,29 @@ make="make -j$(nproc --all)"
 configure_flags=(
     --prefix=${HOME}/apps/.emacs.$(date +%F)
     --with-cairo
+    # Disable native compilation.  trunk is my daily driver, and I
+    # update it regularly, so eln-cache grows a new subdir with every
+    # update.
+    #
+    # I have tried it out unwittingly because as distros start
+    # enabling it, libgccjit becomes part of Emacs build dependencies;
+    # hence package managers install libgccjit when I ask for these
+    # build dependencies, and 'configure' defaults to enabling native
+    # compilation if libgccjit is available.
+    #
+    # I am happy to report that on this workstation, native-comp seems
+    # to Just Work™: I remember seeing a grand total of one (1)
+    # compilation-warning popup over the couple of months I have been
+    # using it.  So congrats to the devs for a smooth UX 👏
+    #
+    # Vibes-wise, I have not noticed performance improvements though.
+    # The situations where Emacs feels "slow" to me come from the
+    # stalls from synchronous jobs that make the UI completely
+    # unresponsive (e.g. Gnus IMAP refresh, fontconfig matching,
+    # project-wide regexp search).
+    #
+    # So I bow out of native-comp, to avoid the eln-cache spill.
+    --with-native-compilation=no
     --with-sqlite3
     --with-xinput2
 )