Refresh .emacs prologue

The stuff about package-initialize is flat out wrong:

(a) package-initialize is _not_ called automatically at startup;
(b) for all that, customizations seem none the worse for wear.

'(elisp) Packaging Basics' suggests that Emacs does automatically call
'package-activate-all' (unless asked otherwise in the early init file)
so it's really not clear what that business with package-initialize
was about 🤷

Add some more up-to-date commentary regarding other topics.

1 files changed, 14 insertions, 18 deletions

diff --git a/.emacs b/.emacs
index 479eb81..59a8b92 100644
--- a/.emacs
+++ b/.emacs
@@ -1,21 +1,14 @@
 ;;; -*- lexical-binding: t -*-
 
-;;; Packages and Custom initialization.
-
-;; Letting Custom run *before* initializing packages seems to result
-;; in packages resetting some of their variables, eg page-break-lines
-;; resets global-page-break-lines-mode to nil.  Cue Custom shrugging,
-;; "changed outside Customize".
-
-;; Emacs≥27 automatically calls package-initialize before loading the
-;; user's init file, unless package-enable-at-startup is set to nil in
-;; the early init file.
-(unless (>= emacs-major-version 27)
-  (package-initialize))
+;;; "Custom"ization & theming.
 
+;; Trying to migrate to use-package instead of Custom's serialized
+;; forms.  It's a long-term project; until that's done, start by
+;; setting and loading the `custom-file'.
 (setq custom-file "~/.emacs-custom.el")
 (load custom-file)
 
+;; Compatibility shim for setopt.
 (if (fboundp 'setopt)
     (defalias 'my/setopt 'setopt)
   (defmacro my/setopt (&rest pairs)
@@ -23,12 +16,15 @@
        (while pairs
          (customize-set-variable (pop pairs) (pop pairs))))))
 
-;; Some list variables I don't set via Custom.  I can't tell Custom
-;; "add this element, take those two away": I need to "set in stone"
-;; an exhaustive list that will make me (1) scratch my head a few
-;; months later when I try to remember which of those items I added,
-;; and which were part of the default list (2) miss out on additions
-;; to the default list, unless I cautiously audit every release.
+;; Helper for customizing list options.
+;;
+;; None of Emacs's customization tools (Custom, setopt, use-package)
+;; can be told "add this element, take those two away": I need to "set
+;; in stone" an exhaustive list that will make me (1) scratch my head
+;; a few months later when I try to remember which of those items I
+;; deliberately added vs which were part of the default list (2) miss
+;; out on additions to the default list, unless I cautiously audit
+;; every release of every package.
 ;;
 ;; Examples: erc-modules, git-commit-setup-hook, package-archives.
 (defmacro my/setopt-update-list (l to-add &optional to-remove)