package-enable-at-startup

package-enable-at-startup is a variable defined in `package.el'.
Its value is

t

Documentation:
Whether to activate installed packages when Emacs starts.
If non-nil, packages are activated after reading the init file
and before `after-init-hook'. Activation is not done if
`user-init-file' is nil (e.g. Emacs was started with "-q").

Even if the value is nil, you can type M-x package-initialize to
activate the package system at any time.

You can customize this variable.

This variable was introduced, or its default value was changed, in version 24.1 of Emacs.