Re: A Forum for Guix Users

[Simon Tournier <zimon.toutoune@gmail.com>]

Hi Étienne,

On Mon, 17 Jul 2023 at 10:58, "Etienne B. Roesch" <etienne.roesch@gmail.com> wrote:

> The way I use the doc, is by loading the latest manual in the browser as
> one page, and use the search function of the browser. That helps but it
> also implies I know what I am looking for, and I can fill in the gaps, eg
> about context (guix system vs host).

Well, I think many of us are doing the same. :-)


> I don’t think we necessarily need another outlet, and should maybe just
> consolidate what we have.

I agree.  In order to fill the gaps between the manual and where the
beginner is, I think we need tutorials.  Plural because a tutorial needs
to be adapted, depending on the background.

For example, I did a first attempt (in French):

    https://zimoun.gitlab.io/jres22-tuto-guix/support-notes-additionnelles.pdf

Somehow, I think that the missing is practical examples opening the
doors to Guix concept.  For example, in the previous tutorial, I try to
explain what a profile is: the idea was to (1) to feed the concept in
order to being able to understand the various mentions in the manual and
(2) let the audience connect with what they already know (Conda
environment, etc.).

Well, it’s far to be satisfying but that an attempt. :-)

Other examples I find very helpful are “Dissecting Guix”.  Well, they
are core concepts and these concepts are not required by newcomers.
However, I think that is the sort of missing material: digest of
explanations about Guix concept.

The manual is complete but intimidating, IMHO.  What is missing appears
to me sort of Rosetta stones which are self-consistent digest of some
specific Guix concept.

For example,

    https://hpc.guix.info/blog/2023/06/a-guide-to-reproducible-research-papers/

is great.  Now, each step could lead dedicated posts explaining
technical bits.  Because, from my experience, what is missing is the
ingredients for fixing the issues when applying such guide to user’s
use-cases.  And to acquire the knowledge of such ingredients, one needs
to connect the dot with Guix concepts.

Well, for what my opinion is worth.

Cheers,
simon