gistfile1.txt

package "emacs" do
  action :install
end

package "emacs" do
  action :remove
end

# example for installing multiple packages

#%w(emacs telnet httpd vim-enhanced).each do |p|
# You will want to store the package list in the default attributes file

# This line goes in attributes/default.rb
# default['base']['packages'] = %w(emacs telnet httpd vim-enhanced)

# then you can simply access it from the node object
node['base']['mypackages'].each do |p|
  package p do
    action :install
  end
end