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While installing helm in emacs, I have come across the error

Package emacs '24.4' unavailable

I am a noob to emacs and I have seen similar questions on stack, but the solution offered there doesn't not solve the problem.

Type M-x locate-library RET package to find where Emacs is getting its package.el from. The path it shows should end with lisp/emacs-lisp/package.elc. If it doesn't, try getting rid of the indicated file (or changing the load path so Emacs doesn't find it).

Can somebody help?

Below is my init.el file (configuration file)

;; https://blog.aaronbieber.com/2015/05/24/from-vim-to-emacs-in-
fourteen-days.html 

(require 'package)

(add-to-list 'package-archives '("org" . "http://orgmode.org/elpa/"))
(add-to-list 'package-archives '("marmalade" . "http://marmalade-repo.org/packages/"))
(add-to-list 'package-archives '("melpa" . "http://melpa.org/packages/"))
(add-to-list 'package-archives '("melpa-stable" .  "http://stable.melpa.org/packages/"))

(setq package-enable-at-startup nil)
(package-initialize)

My emacs version is 24.3.1 fresh install. I have loaded the init file a few times. I am on ubuntu 14.04

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agent18
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1 Answers1

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You're trying to install something which requires that you are running Emacs 24.4 or later.

Hence you getting the error

Package emacs '24.4' unavailable

because

My emacs version is 24.3.1

You'll need to upgrade to a newer version of Emacs if you want to install that package.

phils
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  • But I am really surprised... Helm is a very common package, used back in 2015 (according to the post). Do I always need to keep my emacs in the latest version? Which would mean, also update the plugins and make sure everything works ? – agent18 Dec 27 '17 at 03:47
  • Well 24.4 is not so new -- 24.5, 25.1, and 25.2/3 were released in the interim, and 26.1 will be released in the near future -- however, if you want to use the latest version of a given *package*, it's not uncommon for package authors to limit the age of the Emacs versions that they will support (mostly likely by making use of some feature which was introduced in a particular version). You might be able to install some older version of `helm` instead, if the 24.4 requirement was not there originally (but perhaps not via the package manager). – phils Dec 27 '17 at 03:54
  • Helm dates back to 2011, and Emacs 24.4 was released on 20/10/14, so there are indeed older versions which are compatible. Helm 2.1.0 was the last tagged release which specified Emacs 24.3. https://github.com/emacs-helm/helm/tree/v2.1.0 – phils Dec 27 '17 at 04:42
  • So I should either upgrade my emacs or install older versions somehow(can you introduce me to this?) – agent18 Dec 27 '17 at 04:51
  • I removed and added latest version of emacs. I don't have the error anymore. Thanks. Please check the update of your answer @ phils. – agent18 Dec 27 '17 at 06:20
  • Same problem with centos 7. I solved by installing emacs from snap. https://snapcraft.io/install/emacs/centos – Michele Piccolini Feb 04 '20 at 09:06