Re: [ANN] Org-babel integrated into Org-mode

[Matt Lundin <mdl@imapmail.org>]

Hi Eric,

Thanks again for all the work that you, Dan, and Tom have put into
org-babel. I'm glad to see it become part of org-mode!

"Eric Schulte" <schulte.eric@gmail.com> writes:

> 2) Babel will now be loaded by default along with the rest of Org-mode.
>    This means that *everyone* currently using babel will need to change
>    their Emacs config and remove the (require 'org-babel-int) and/or
>    (require 'org-babel) lines.

I would like to request that org-babel be made an optional module. I ask
this as someone who uses org-babel regularly. Here are my reasons:

  - Org-babel adds rather specific and complex functionality to org-mode
    that those who use it as a simple outliner and todo manager do not
    require. (In other words, an option to turn it off might be nice for
    those who are worried about "feature creep.")

  - Org-babel increases the risk of accidentally executing malicious or
    dangerous code when typing C-c C-c on a src block or exporting a
    file. Perhaps users should activate it only after they understand
    the risks.

    + For instance, I might write a blog post warning about the dangers
      of typing "rm -rf ~/". If I put this between #+begin_src sh
      and #+end_src and unthinkingly hit C-c C-c, I would be in trouble.
      I believe this is the reason for the variables
      org-confirm-shell-link-function and
      org-confirm-elisp-link-function.

    + This is admitted a bit far-fetched as an example, as it would
      require one to have loaded ob-sh.el. But since elisp execution is
      activated by default, there remain opportunities for unwittingly
      executing code that is meant for other purposes (e.g., warnings,
      examples, etc.).

>    Support for evaluating emacs-lisp code blocks is loaded by default.
>    All other languages will need to be required explicitly.  To conform
>    to Emacs filename specifications all language require lines have been
>    shortened from e.g.
>    
>    (require 'org-babel-sh)
>    
>    to
>    
>    (require 'ob-sh)

When I run make clean && make && make install I find that the language
directory is not installed. Does the langs directory require a manual
installation?

Also, with make install, the ob-* files are installed on the same level
as the org-files, yet lines 108-114 in org.el indicate that they should
be installed in a babel subdirectory.

Thanks!
Matt