Re: Extending Guix without using the Guile load path

[Julien Lepiller <julien@lepiller.eu>]

Le 17 mars 2020 14:32:59 GMT-04:00, Joshua Branson <jbranso@dismail.de> a écrit :
>Ludovic Courtès <ludo@gnu.org> writes:
>
>>
>> (Though eventually, I do think something like Guix Home should be
>part
>> of Guix itself.  :-))
>
>May I ask is Guix Home similar to systemd homed?  Or do they have
>slightly different objectives?

From what I understand, homed makes your home an archive (a single file that is transparently mounted) that can be used on different machines. I'm not sure what this is trying to address, but it sounds very much like using a mutable container in terms of benefits.

The home manager doesn't take care of any data in your home, only your configuration. In fact, you need a separate directory for your data so the home manager can take over your home. It's the guix way of creating your home configuration. It makes it portable too, since a single file is required to reproduce the same home environment (excluding your data). In a way, this is similar to how guix is a solution to containers' drawbacks :)

However, just like guix can produce docker containers, in theory I think building a homed archive is perfectly possible. Both approaches are not incompatible.

Even though it's technically nice and intellectually satisfiying, it is still very alpha and limited. Don't expect much of it in practice!