New to Guix

New to Guix

[Konrad Hinsen]

Hi everyone,

I finally found some time to test-install Guix and so far I like what
I have seen. I had been playing with Nix in the past, so much of Guix
is not completely new to me, and Scheme instead of Nix+bash is a
welcome relief ;-)

I will probably write a couple of package definitions in the course of
my further explorations, so I wonder how to contribute them to the
project. Is it OK to post them to this mailing list?

I also wonder if there are any conditions as to what software is
acceptable for the package collection. From a quick look at what's
there already, it seems everything with a reasonably free license is
welcome. Did I guess right?

Konrad.

Re: New to Guix

[Ludovic Courtès]

Hi!

Konrad Hinsen <konrad.hinsen@fastmail.net> skribis:

> I finally found some time to test-install Guix and so far I like what
> I have seen. I had been playing with Nix in the past, so much of Guix
> is not completely new to me, and Scheme instead of Nix+bash is a
> welcome relief ;-)

Heh, welcome!  :-)

> I will probably write a couple of package definitions in the course of
> my further explorations, so I wonder how to contribute them to the
> project. Is it OK to post them to this mailing list?

Yes, at least at the beginning.  The ‘HACKING’ file has more info
regarding commit access and our policy.

> I also wonder if there are any conditions as to what software is
> acceptable for the package collection. From a quick look at what's
> there already, it seems everything with a reasonably free license is
> welcome. Did I guess right?

Exactly.  We package only free software, as per the broad definition
that can be found at <http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html>.

Since you’re already familiar with Nix already, you may like the ‘guix
import’ command (only briefly mentioned in the manual).  For instance,
you can run:

  guix import /path/to/nixpkgs foo

and that will import and convert the Nixpkgs definition for ‘foo’ to Guix.

However, please make sure to check the license information.

Happy hacking!

Ludo’.

Re: New to Guix

[Nikita Karetnikov]

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> Hi everyone,

Hi!

> I will probably write a couple of package definitions in the course of
> my further explorations, so I wonder how to contribute them to the
> project. Is it OK to post them to this mailing list?

Sure, I send the output of 'git format-patch', for instance.

What would you like to package?  (It would be great to discuss that to
avoid duplication.)
      
> I also wonder if there are any conditions as to what software is
> acceptable for the package collection. From a quick look at what's
> there already, it seems everything with a reasonably free license is
> welcome. Did I guess right?

Yes, "free as in freedom" [1].

Check this message [2] as well.  It would be great to stick to the plan,
but it's not mandatory.

[1] https://gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
[2] https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-guix/2013-05/msg00050.html

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Re: New to Guix

[Jason Self]

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Ludovic Courtès said:

> Exactly.  We package only free software, as per the broad definition
> that can be found at <http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html>.

May I also suggest that, if there is an intention to make a free
distro, this following the guidelines in this might also be
appropriate?

http://www.gnu.org/distros/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html

Re: New to Guix

[Ludovic Courtès]

"Jason Self" <jason@bluehome.net> skribis:

> Ludovic Courtès said:
>
>> Exactly.  We package only free software, as per the broad definition
>> that can be found at <http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html>.
>
> May I also suggest that, if there is an intention to make a free 
> distro, this following the guidelines in this might also be 
> appropriate?
>
> http://www.gnu.org/distros/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html

Oh yes, of course.  I’ll send a note.

Ludo’.

Re: New to Guix

[Ludovic Courtès]

ludo@gnu.org (Ludovic Courtès) skribis:

> "Jason Self" <jason@bluehome.net> skribis:
>
>> Ludovic Courtès said:
>>
>>> Exactly.  We package only free software, as per the broad definition
>>> that can be found at <http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html>.
>>
>> May I also suggest that, if there is an intention to make a free 
>> distro, this following the guidelines in this might also be 
>> appropriate?
>>
>> http://www.gnu.org/distros/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html
>
> Oh yes, of course.  I’ll send a note.

Oh, I think I just did.  :-)

Ludo’.

Re: New to Guix

[Konrad Hinsen]

Ludovic Courtès writes:

 > Exactly.  We package only free software, as per the broad definition
 > that can be found at <http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html>.

So it's pretty much the same rules as for Debian. Nice.

 > Since you’re already familiar with Nix already, you may like the ‘guix
 > import’ command (only briefly mentioned in the manual).  For instance,
 > you can run:
 > 
 >   guix import /path/to/nixpkgs foo

Good to know! On the other hand, it's probably more instructive to do
a few packages manually at first.


Nikita Karetnikov writes:

 > Sure, I send the output of 'git format-patch', for instance.

Fine.

 > What would you like to package?  (It would be great to discuss that to
 > avoid duplication.)

Stuff I use myself, meaning software at the intersection of "Python"
and "scientific computing". Unless someone is already working on it,
I'd choose NumPy as my first target. Python 3 would be another missing
piece I'd like to tackle.

 > Check this message [2] as well.  It would be great to stick to the plan,
 > but it's not mandatory.

That plan sounds reasonable, but I have no competence with that kind
of software. I'd rather start with packages that I know very well, to
the point of having contributed to their development. Right now, my
goal is "learn Guix", with package definitions produced as a side
effect. That's how side effects sneak into purely functional package
management ;-)

Konrad.

Re: New to Guix

[Ludovic Courtès]

Konrad Hinsen <konrad.hinsen@fastmail.net> skribis:

>  > What would you like to package?  (It would be great to discuss that to
>  > avoid duplication.)
>
> Stuff I use myself, meaning software at the intersection of "Python"
> and "scientific computing". Unless someone is already working on it,
> I'd choose NumPy as my first target. Python 3 would be another missing
> piece I'd like to tackle.

AFAIK nobody is working on these–otherwise speak out!  ;-)

>  > Check this message [2] as well.  It would be great to stick to the plan,
>  > but it's not mandatory.
>
> That plan sounds reasonable, but I have no competence with that kind
> of software. I'd rather start with packages that I know very well, to
> the point of having contributed to their development.

Yes, that makes sense.  Part of the plan for 0.3 is just “more
packages”, broadly.

> Right now, my goal is "learn Guix", with package definitions produced
> as a side effect. That's how side effects sneak into purely functional
> package management ;-)

Aah!  :-)

Ludo’.

Re: New to Guix

[Ludovic Courtès]

Commit 9bf3c1a updates the ‘HACKING’ file and the manual with useful
info that we discussed here.

If anyone thinks of other things worth mentioning there, please let me
know, or send a patch!

Ludo’.