 <p>I encountered this issue as you did. I got an error that's something like "couldn't find package Emacs-24.4". This inspired me to install <code>Emacs-24.4</code> on my Ubuntu, instead of older version <code>24.3</code> which is the newest I can get from <code>apt-get</code>. (A convincing fact is that the newer version <code>24.5</code> provided by <code>Homebrew</code> works well with Purcell's package on my Mac.) </p> <p>Under <code>Emacs 24.4</code>, <code>slime</code> proved to run well with Purcell's <code>.emacs.d/</code>. But it really costs me a lot of time to install <code>Emacs-24.4</code> on my Ubuntu. First, I had to solve the problems of dependencies. Using <code>aptitude</code>, I get rid of the problem which <code>apt-get</code> failed to solve:</p> <pre><code>sudo apt-get install aptitude sudo aptitude install build-essential sudo aptitude build-dep emacs24 </code></pre> <p>When the dependency issue pops out, <code>aptitude</code> will give you some suggestions including downgrading your current packages. I chose solutions of downgrade without leaving over any unsolved dependency problem (select 'no' until you find an acceptable one). During reinstalling build packages, Ubuntu iso cdrom may be required. </p> <p>Then install <code>Emacs 24.4</code>:</p> <pre><code>wget http://open-source-box.org/emacs/emacs-24.4.tar.xz tar xvf emacs-24.4.tar.xz cd emacs-24.4 ./configure --prefix=$HOME/.local LDFLAGS=-L$HOME/.local/lib --without-pop --without-kerberos --without-mmdf --without-sound --without-wide-int --without-xpm --without-jpeg --without-tiff --without-gif --without-png --without-rsvg --without-xml2 --without-imagemagick --without-xft --without-libotf --without-m17n-flt --without-xaw3d --without-xim --without-ns --without-gpm --without-dbus --without-gconf --without-gsettings --without-selinux --without-gnutls --without-x make &amp;&amp; make install </code></pre> <p>References: </p> <p><a href="https://gist.github.com/tnarihi/6054dfa7b4ad2564819b" rel="nofollow">https://gist.github.com/tnarihi/6054dfa7b4ad2564819b</a></p> <p><a href="http://linuxg.net/how-to-install-emacs-24-4-on-ubuntu-14-10-ubuntu-14-04-and-derivative-systems/" rel="nofollow">http://linuxg.net/how-to-install-emacs-24-4-on-ubuntu-14-10-ubuntu-14-04-and-derivative-systems/</a></p>