I am setting up my archlinux-desktop in mainland China. While configuring ELPA for emacs, it turned out that (at least) the following archives are not available:
(setq package-archives '(
("gnu" . "https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/")
("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/")))
Reason: Connections cannot be established and are aborted
On https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/ELPA I found a remark:
Emacs users in China mainland can use popkit.org (http://elpa.popkit.org/) archive:
(add-to-list 'package-archives '("popkit" . "http://elpa.popkit.org/packages/"))
In addition I found basically all relevant (and more) repositories on http://elpa.emacs-china.org/
ELPA | 镜像地址
-----------------------+---------------------------------------------------
GNU ELPA | http://elpa.emacs-china.org/gnu/
MELPA | http://elpa.emacs-china.org/melpa/
MELPA Stable | http://elpa.emacs-china.org/melpa-stable/
Marmalade | http://elpa.emacs-china.org/marmalade/
Org | http://elpa.emacs-china.org/org/
Sunrise Commander ELPA | http://elpa.emacs-china.org/sunrise-commander/
user42 ELPA | http://elpa.emacs-china.org/user42/
This brings two questions: - Why are the official repositories not accessible from within China? - Is it secure to download from these sources?