bug#48398: many packages become nonfunctional if not install in fixed profile like ~/.guix-profile

[Shyam Saran <syamsaran12345@gmail.com>]

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many packages become nonfunctional if not install in fixed profiles (e.g.
~/.guix-profile)

These are two instances

1. blueman
2. font-conf so most of font like font-lohit will not be available

I had noticed that fixed profiles have become part of many
packages/services definition
which could be the reason that many of these packages/services become
dependent on
these fixed profiles.

It can be checked with

$ ag   --scheme  '.guix-profile'
$ grep -r '.guix-profile'

in code


Also

We provides necessary services through putting environment variables in
each profiles

PROFILE_PATH/etc/profile

  like for pidgin/purple
  PURPLE_PLUGIN_PATH

  for libraries
  LIBRARY_PATH


As suggestion

We could first provide augment all variables with guix specific prefix e.g.
GUIX_PEV_...
(PVS profile environment variables.)

So these all variables will become


  GUIX_PEV_PURPLE_PLUGIN_PATH
  GUIX_PEV_LIBRARY_PATH

then we could or could not (left to user) to set them
  PURPLE_PLUGIN_PATH=$GUIX_PEV_PURPLE_PLUGIN_PATH
  LIBRARY_PATH=$GUIX_PEV_LIBRARY_PATH


So with prefixed env vars, in first look one will know it is coming from
guix related profiles.
maybe it will also help in removing dependencies on fixed profiles.

/syam

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