Re: util-linux and perl rename

[Alex Vong <alexvong1995@gmail.com>]

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Hi Thorsten,

Thorsten Wilms <t_w_@freenet.de> writes:

> Hi Guix!
>
> I already had a "rename" binary via util-linux. Then I installed the
> package "rename", resulting in another "rename" binary, as I prefer
> the Perl version. This was a success in that I got what I wanted.
>
> However, should this name clash be considered a bug?
> Is there a policy for such circumstances?
> What happens that the newly installed "rename" gets precedence?
>
I think it is chosen based on some random criterions (so the building of
profile is still deterministic). During installation, there should be a
warning showing there's a conflict, and which one is being chosen. So
you get the "right" one by luck.

> The best info I found on the rename vs rename issue in general:
> https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/275254/why-is-the-rename-utility-on-debian-ubuntu-different-than-the-one-on-other-distr

To eliminate this conflict, I can think of 2 solutions:

  1. Use 2 separate profiles where one has util-linux installed and the
  other has rename installed.

  2. Install util-linux into the default profile, but invoke rename by
  "guix environment --ad-hoc rename -- rename ..." instead of
  "rename ..."

These 2 solutions work in general as well, such as for conflicting
library versions, conflicting language runtimes...

I prefer the 2nd solution since maintaining 2 separate profiles just for
using rename seems too "heavy weight" to me.

Cheers,
Alex

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