I tried to restore my .emacs.d from a backup two weeks ago but when I start emacs it shows "deleting 14 orphan packages" and I was able to see that one of them is evil-magit. Any idea why that happens?

I would start by checking the commands are still there, SPC SPC magit and see if the commands show the keybindings. If the commands aren't there, then I'd delete the magit packages and restart Emacs

The commands are there. But also magit-status doesn't work as before (no evil keybindings just standard emacs -> suggesting that evil-magit and possibly other packages are the problem)

When I try to install evil-magit manually (via package-list-packages) I get this error

Compiling file /Users/jumar/.emacs.d/elpa/develop/evil-magit-20200604.110/evil-magit.el at Fri Jul 24 13:57:14 2020
Entering directory '/Users/jumar/.emacs.d/elpa/develop/evil-magit-20200604.110/'
evil-magit.el:53:1:Error: Key sequence j p starts with non-prefix key j

It looked as if no magit package was actually installed. I've just installed magit and then tried evil-magit - all other magit related packages are shown as "available" but not "installed" (not sure if that only means there's a new version)

After this change the emacs startup window shows again "deleting evil-magit"

And SPC g s still doesn't work

A possible quick hack would be to set dotspacemacs-install-packages 'all in .spacemacs which should keep all packages rather than deleting unused ones. This doesnt fix the underlying problem though.

What does it mean that a package is "unused"?

Btw. I ran a rather old version of develop branch and just tried to update to the latest origin/develop. This is what I get during startup now:

Packages that are not defined in an enabled layer or included in the addtional-packages setting I assume.

Maybe I should note I'm using Emacs 25.3 on Mac OS X 10.15.6

Is that the issue with older versions of Emacs? e.g. before 26.3. The RSA key for melpa was updated sometime before Emacs 26.3 and so earlier emacs versions need their key updated.

Yes, it seems it is....

When I had a Mac, I used https://emacsformacosx.com/ to install Emacs. Or you can to an internet search on how to update the keys for Emacs 25. Or install a new version of Emacs using the Spacemacs recommendations https://github.com/syl20bnr/spacemacs/tree/develop#emacs

I ended up downloading new Emacs, switching to the latest develop branch, deleting my .spacemacs file and manually transfering relevant settings from my old .spacemacs file to the new one created by the spacemacs wizard.

SPC f e D is also useful for comparing your .spacemacs file with the spacemacs.template, opens ediff and j and k step through changes. Or in this case using SPC D f f to select two files to use with ediff

Thanks for the tip. Btw as a side-effect it seems that the upgrade made my emacs way faster

I am trying out Emacs 28 at the moment, it seems a little faster too, although probably not as stable as 26.3. Emacs 27 should be out this year as the next stable release.

Pleasure. Hope all is fine with you

I am busy bee working on https://practicalli.github.io/ and getting out and about on my bike (although not as much as I should)

Glad to hear you are well 🙂

It's been a long time since I've seen anyone from the wider community in the flesh, I haven't seen my own team for a few months either....

Not complaining, going full-remote has definitely had its perks

😉

I am going to start my own bank and make loads of money 🙂 https://practicalli.github.io/clojure-webapps/projects/banking-on-clojure/

That sounds like a great idea

You've heard about Cognitect and NuBank I assume..?

Yes, I want some of that action :rolling_on_the_floor_laughing:

Its all for my ever growing books on Clojure. Starting to get them into a much better shape and using lots of deps.edn and Clojure CLI tools.

Nice work!

I am thinking of getting a proper job and moving to Scotland at some point

Would be lovely to see you... Things have changed / moved on a lot at Cervest of late, so we are still on mission, but focusign a lot more on disclosure solutions and that kind fo thing for risk / climate risk to asset bases.

COVID-19 has made us 100% Remote Friendly, I am 100% Remote now, which does not preclude the idea of maybe quarterly visits to the office starting e/o Q1 next year, so I am quite pleased albeit I am missing having regular access to London theatres and my social life down there...

Scotland has a lot to recommend it though 🙂

Where would you move to?

Not sure yet, somewhere pretty, which seems to be most of Scotland. Perth and Inverness look interesting, as I could go cycling over the Cairngorms