Re: "M-x guix" - magit-like interface for guix commands

[Alex Kost <alezost@gmail.com>]

Thompson, David (2015-08-14 17:40 +0300) wrote:

> On Fri, Aug 14, 2015 at 4:19 AM, Alex Kost <alezost@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hello, I've pushed 'wip-emacs-popup-ui' branch with emacs magit-like
>> (popup) interface for guix commands.
>>
>> In short, here is how it looks like:
>>
>> "M-x guix": <http://i.imgur.com/qsWNNg8.png>
>> and pressing "b" there ("build"): <http://i.imgur.com/jqE4TEr.png>
>>
>> There are some things to do, but it is ready for trying.  So if anyone
>> wants to look at it:
>>
>> 1. Set up emacs for using your guix repo directory -
>>    see (info "(guix) Emacs Initial Setup")
>>
>> 2. Switch to 'wip-emacs-popup-ui' branch and "make" it.
>>
>> 3. Start emacs and run "M-x guix".
>>
>> Oh, and it requires 'magit-popup' library which is a part of Magit 2.1.0.
>
> This looks awesome!  I love Magit's interface.  Though, I do wonder if
I like it too :-)
> depending on Magit is too heavy a dependency.

It does not depend on the whole Magit but only on a single
"magit-popup.el" file which may be installed separately (available on
Melpa, for example).  So potentially we can make a package just for this
library and use it.

However, according to its manual¹, it will be superseded by a general
library which will not be a part of magit, so eventually it will be a
light-weight dependency I think.

Anyway, we already have a heavy dependency for Emacs interface (Geiser).

> I noticed an 'e' for 'environment'.  I imagine that's just a placeholder. ;)

Not really, all commands (including 'environment') are ready to use.
You just specify the options you want in the magit manner and then you run
"Execute" action.  And the specified command is executed in Guix REPL.

Specifically for 'environment' it may lead to a very interesting result
as it will spawn an external process, unless --dry-run or --search-paths
options were specified.  But still it will… let's say… work, but only if
a user is brave enough to try it ;)

Also along with "execute in REPL" action I'm going to add 2 more default
actions for each command:

- "execute in shell" — this will be a complete alternative to writing a
  full command manually in a shell buffer.

- "copy the command line" — i.e., to put the specified command arguments
   into kill ring, so later a user could do with it whatever he wants.

In future there may also be added special actions for some commands.

> Anyway, really cool stuff!

Thank you!

[1] http://magit.vc/manual/magit-popup/Defining-prefix-and-suffix-commands.html

-- 
Alex