From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: =?UTF-8?B?SmFuIFN5bsOhxI1law==?= Subject: Re: Some newbie questions Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2015 21:29:26 +0100 Message-ID: References: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=001a114a951cc9b0650523442a74 Return-path: Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:37289) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1ZrtpA-0002RR-4L for guix-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 29 Oct 2015 16:29:29 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Zrtp8-0005OA-SW for guix-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 29 Oct 2015 16:29:28 -0400 Received: from mail-qk0-x234.google.com ([2607:f8b0:400d:c09::234]:36684) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Zrtp8-0005O6-Mk for guix-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 29 Oct 2015 16:29:26 -0400 Received: by qkcl124 with SMTP id l124so19226926qkc.3 for ; Thu, 29 Oct 2015 13:29:26 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: List-Id: "Development of GNU Guix and the GNU System distribution." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: guix-devel-bounces+gcggd-guix-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sender: guix-devel-bounces+gcggd-guix-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: "Thompson, David" Cc: guix-devel --001a114a951cc9b0650523442a74 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 2:23 PM, Thompson, David wrote: > On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 6:08 AM, Jan Syn=C3=A1=C4=8Dek > wrote: > > Hello, > > > > I've been playing with guix a bit and I must say I really like it. I > don't > > understand a few things though. > > > > 1) How do I tell if a package I have installed had been built locally o= r > > downloaded as a substitute? > > You don't. You can think of substitution is an optimization > technique, the results are indistinguishable except for that it likely > took less time to get the substitute. It's possible to query the > substitute server to see if it has the store item that you have, but > that doesn't mean that your copy was retrieved from there necessarily. > Other than that, the Guix tools will tell you at build/download time > whether or not it is building from source or downloading a pre-built > binary. What use-case do you have in mind? Nothing really specific. I was just curious if it was possible. Now that I think about it, I should get the same result whether building myself or installing a substitute, right? > > 2) There are a lot of packages with executable binaries in the bin/ > > subfolder in /gnu/store. However, if I didn't explicitly install the > > package, I don't have it in my profile and can't easily reach the binar= y > > without first looking it up in the store. Do I have to always "install"= a > > package to be able to use run it easily? > > Not always, but usually that is what you'd do. This is how we achieve > isolation of environments. Different users, or the same user in > different circumstances, will want different sets of programs and > libraries available to them. > > That said, if you just want to do a one-off run of something, you can > use 'guix environment' instead, which will not install anything to > your user profile, like so: > > guix environment --ad-hoc wget -- wget http://gnu.org/s/guix > > > Please, excuse my not-so-clear questions, I still don't fully understan= d > how > > things really work in guix. > > No problem at all. Welcome! > > - Dave > Thank you! I'm curious about one more thing. In /gnu/store/, there are built packages, which I understand. Then there are derivations, -builder files, standalone statically linked binaries, some patches and also some scheme files. There's also the .links directory that contains various file formats as well, only this time their names are only hashes. Does any documentation/source of information about what all those are exist? I couldn't find anything. The .links directory takes over 2GiB on my machine and I wonder why. Cheers, --=20 Jan Syn=C3=A1=C4=8Dek --001a114a951cc9b0650523442a74 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
On T= hu, Oct 29, 2015 at 2:23 PM, Thompson, David <dthompson2@worcester= .edu> wrote:
On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 6:08 AM, Jan Syn=C3=A1=C4=8Dek <jan.synacek@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I've been playing with guix a bit and I must say I really like it.= I don't
> understand a few things though.
>
> 1) How do I tell if a package I have installed had been built locally = or
> downloaded as a substitute?

You don't.=C2=A0 You can think of substitution is an optimizatio= n
technique, the results are indistinguishable except for that it likely
took less time to get the substitute.=C2=A0 It's possible to query the<= br> substitute server to see if it has the store item that you have, but
that doesn't mean that your copy was retrieved from there necessarily.<= br> Other than that, the Guix tools will tell you at build/download time
whether or not it is building from source or downloading a pre-built
binary.=C2=A0 What use-case do you have in mind?

Nothing really specific. I was just curious if it was possible. Now t= hat I think about it,
I should get the same result whether bu= ilding myself or installing a substitute,
right?
=C2=A0
> 2) There are a lot of packages with executable binaries in the bin/ > subfolder in /gnu/store. However, if I didn't explicitly install t= he
> package, I don't have it in my profile and can't easily reach = the binary
> without first looking it up in the store. Do I have to always "in= stall" a
> package to be able to use run it easily?

Not always, but usually that is what you'd do.=C2=A0 This is how= we achieve
isolation of environments.=C2=A0 Different users, or the same user in
different circumstances, will want different sets of programs and
libraries available to them.

That said, if you just want to do a one-off run of something, you can
use 'guix environment' instead, which will not install anything to<= br> your user profile, like so:

=C2=A0 =C2=A0 guix environment --ad-hoc wget -- wget http://gnu.org/s/guix<= br>
> Please, excuse my not-so-clear questions, I still don't fully unde= rstand how
> things really work in guix.

No problem at all.=C2=A0 Welcome!

- Dave

Thank you!

I'm curious about one more thing. In /gnu/store/, there are built p= ackages, which I understand.
Then there= are derivations, -builder files, standalone statically linked binaries, so= me patches
and also some scheme files. = There's also the .links directory that contains various file formats
as well, only this time their names are o= nly hashes. Does any documentation/source
of information about what all those are exist? I couldn't find anyth= ing. The .links directory takes
over 2G= iB on my machine and I wonder why.

= Cheers,
--
Jan Syn=C3=A1=C4=8Dek
<= /div>
--001a114a951cc9b0650523442a74--