[bug#33111] [PATCH 0/3] Have the binary tarball populate ~root/.config/guix/current

[bug#33111] [PATCH 0/3] Have the binary tarball populate ~root/.config/guix/current

[Ludovic Courtès]

Hello Guix!

Currently the binary tarball populates ~root/.guix-profile.  This creates
confusion when people realize that ‘guix pull’, instead, updates
~root/.config/guix; it’s also inconvenient because it forces root to do
“guix pull && guix package -u guix” or similar if they want to update
the default Guix revision on the distro.

These patches address this by having the binary tarball populate
~root/.config/guix/current like ‘guix pull’ does.

There’s one downside though: with the last patch, the ‘glibc-utf8-locales’
is no longer included because ~root/.config/guix/current would be the
wrong place for it.  Consequently, users have to explicitly install it
in ~root/.guix-profile and set GUIX_LOCPATH accordingly.

A possible fix would be to modify ‘guix pack’ so that it can create not
just two profiles, where ~root/.guix-profile would contain
‘glibc-utf8-locales’.  That’d be a non-trivial change, though.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Ludo’.

Ludovic Courtès (3):
  install: Parameterize the profile name for
    'populate-single-profile-directory'.
  pack: Add '--profile-name'.
  build: Binary tarball now populates the "current-guix" profile.

 Makefile.am                 |  6 ++----
 doc/guix.texi               | 37 +++++++++++++++++++++++--------------
 etc/guix-daemon.conf.in     |  2 +-
 etc/guix-daemon.service.in  |  4 ++--
 etc/guix-install.sh         | 21 +++++++++++----------
 etc/guix-publish.conf.in    |  2 +-
 etc/guix-publish.service.in |  4 ++--
 gnu/build/install.scm       | 24 ++++++++++++++++++------
 guix/scripts/pack.scm       | 20 +++++++++++++++++++-
 tests/guix-pack.sh          | 17 +++++++++++++++--
 10 files changed, 94 insertions(+), 43 deletions(-)

-- 
2.19.1

[bug#33111] [PATCH 1/3] install: Parameterize the profile name for 'populate-single-profile-directory'.

[Ludovic Courtès]

* gnu/build/install.scm (populate-single-profile-directory): Add
 #:profile-name.  Replace hard-coded occurrences of "guix-profile" with
PROFILE-NAME.  Make the symlink part under /root a function of
PROFILE-NAME.
---
 gnu/build/install.scm | 24 ++++++++++++++++++------
 1 file changed, 18 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/gnu/build/install.scm b/gnu/build/install.scm
index c602d6948..98c547f2e 100644
--- a/gnu/build/install.scm
+++ b/gnu/build/install.scm
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@ deduplicates files common to CLOSURE and the rest of PREFIX."
 
 (define* (populate-single-profile-directory directory
                                             #:key profile closure
+                                            (profile-name "guix-profile")
                                             deduplicate?
                                             register? schema)
   "Populate DIRECTORY with a store containing PROFILE, whose closure is given
@@ -169,6 +170,9 @@ When REGISTER? is true, initialize DIRECTORY/var/guix/db to reflect the
 contents of the store; DEDUPLICATE? determines whether to deduplicate files in
 the store.
 
+PROFILE-NAME is the name of the profile being created under
+/var/guix/profiles, typically either \"guix-profile\" or \"current-guix\".
+
 This is used to create the self-contained tarballs with 'guix pack'."
   (define (scope file)
     (string-append directory "/" file))
@@ -198,12 +202,20 @@ This is used to create the self-contained tarballs with 'guix pack'."
   ;; Make root's profile, which makes it a GC root.
   (mkdir-p* %root-profile)
   (symlink* profile
-            (string-append %root-profile "/guix-profile-1-link"))
-  (symlink* "guix-profile-1-link"
-            (string-append %root-profile "/guix-profile"))
+            (string-append %root-profile "/" profile-name "-1-link"))
+  (symlink* (string-append profile-name "-1-link")
+            (string-append %root-profile "/" profile-name))
 
-  (mkdir-p* "/root")
-  (symlink* (string-append %root-profile "/guix-profile")
-            "/root/.guix-profile"))
+  (match profile-name
+    ("guix-profile"
+     (mkdir-p* "/root")
+     (symlink* (string-append %root-profile "/guix-profile")
+               "/root/.guix-profile"))
+    ("current-guix"
+     (mkdir-p* "/root/.config/guix")
+     (symlink* (string-append %root-profile "/current-guix")
+               "/root/.config/guix/current"))
+    (_
+     #t)))
 
 ;;; install.scm ends here
-- 
2.19.1

[bug#33111] [PATCH 2/3] pack: Add '--profile-name'.

[Ludovic Courtès]

* guix/scripts/pack.scm (self-contained-tarball): Add #:profile-name and
honor it.
(squashfs-image, docker-image): Add #:profile-name.
(%default-options): Add 'profile-name'.
(%options, show-help): Add "--profile-name".
(guix-pack): Honor it.
* tests/guix-pack.sh: Add test for '--localstatedir
--profile-name=current-guix'.
* doc/guix.texi (Invoking guix pack): Document "--profile-name".
---
 doc/guix.texi         |  7 +++++--
 guix/scripts/pack.scm | 20 +++++++++++++++++++-
 tests/guix-pack.sh    | 17 +++++++++++++++--
 3 files changed, 39 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/doc/guix.texi b/doc/guix.texi
index 12346c4b8..7265eed91 100644
--- a/doc/guix.texi
+++ b/doc/guix.texi
@@ -3459,8 +3459,11 @@ For instance, @code{-S /opt/gnu/bin=bin} creates a @file{/opt/gnu/bin}
 symlink pointing to the @file{bin} sub-directory of the profile.
 
 @item --localstatedir
-Include the ``local state directory'', @file{/var/guix}, in the
-resulting pack.
+@itemx --profile-name=@var{name}
+Include the ``local state directory'', @file{/var/guix}, in the resulting
+pack, and notably the @file{/var/guix/profiles/per-user/root/@var{name}}
+profile---by default @var{name} is @code{guix-profile}, which corresponds to
+@file{~root/.guix-profile}.
 
 @file{/var/guix} contains the store database (@pxref{The Store}) as well
 as garbage-collector roots (@pxref{Invoking guix gc}).  Providing it in
diff --git a/guix/scripts/pack.scm b/guix/scripts/pack.scm
index b7b4e22bb..a87a96115 100644
--- a/guix/scripts/pack.scm
+++ b/guix/scripts/pack.scm
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ found."
 
 (define* (self-contained-tarball name profile
                                  #:key target
+                                 (profile-name "guix-profile")
                                  deduplicate?
                                  (compressor (first %compressors))
                                  localstatedir?
@@ -184,6 +185,7 @@ added to the pack."
             ;; <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-tar/2017-11/msg00009.html>.
             (populate-single-profile-directory %root
                                                #:profile #$profile
+                                               #:profile-name #$profile-name
                                                #:closure "profile"
                                                #:deduplicate? #f
                                                #:register? #$localstatedir?
@@ -244,6 +246,7 @@ added to the pack."
 
 (define* (squashfs-image name profile
                          #:key target
+                         (profile-name "guix-profile")
                          deduplicate?
                          (compressor (first %compressors))
                          localstatedir?
@@ -333,6 +336,7 @@ added to the pack."
 
 (define* (docker-image name profile
                        #:key target
+                       (profile-name "guix-profile")
                        deduplicate?
                        (compressor (first %compressors))
                        localstatedir?
@@ -538,6 +542,7 @@ please email '~a'~%")
 (define %default-options
   ;; Alist of default option values.
   `((format . tarball)
+    (profile-name . "guix-profile")
     (system . ,(%current-system))
     (substitutes? . #t)
     (build-hook? . #t)
@@ -609,6 +614,13 @@ please email '~a'~%")
          (option '("localstatedir") #f #f
                  (lambda (opt name arg result)
                    (alist-cons 'localstatedir? #t result)))
+         (option '("profile-name") #t #f
+                 (lambda (opt name arg result)
+                   (match arg
+                     ((or "guix-profile" "current-guix")
+                      (alist-cons 'profile-name arg result))
+                     (_
+                      (leave (G_ "~a: unsupported profile name~%") arg)))))
          (option '("bootstrap") #f #f
                  (lambda (opt name arg result)
                    (alist-cons 'bootstrap? #t result)))
@@ -641,6 +653,9 @@ Create a bundle of PACKAGE.\n"))
   -m, --manifest=FILE    create a pack with the manifest from FILE"))
   (display (G_ "
       --localstatedir    include /var/guix in the resulting pack"))
+  (display (G_ "
+      --profile-name=NAME
+                         populate /var/guix/profiles/.../NAME"))
   (display (G_ "
       --bootstrap        use the bootstrap binaries to build the pack"))
   (newline)
@@ -730,7 +745,8 @@ Create a bundle of PACKAGE.\n"))
                                 (#f
                                  (leave (G_ "~a: unknown pack format~%")
                                         pack-format))))
-                 (localstatedir? (assoc-ref opts 'localstatedir?)))
+                 (localstatedir? (assoc-ref opts 'localstatedir?))
+                 (profile-name   (assoc-ref opts 'profile-name)))
             (run-with-store store
               (mlet* %store-monad ((profile (profile-derivation
                                              manifest
@@ -749,6 +765,8 @@ Create a bundle of PACKAGE.\n"))
                                                      symlinks
                                                      #:localstatedir?
                                                      localstatedir?
+                                                     #:profile-name
+                                                     profile-name
                                                      #:archiver
                                                      archiver)))
                 (mbegin %store-monad
diff --git a/tests/guix-pack.sh b/tests/guix-pack.sh
index cd721a60e..c55fe6c9a 100644
--- a/tests/guix-pack.sh
+++ b/tests/guix-pack.sh
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ the_pack="`guix pack -S /opt/gnu/bin=bin guile-bootstrap`"
 # exists because /opt/gnu/bin may be an absolute symlink to a store item that
 # has been GC'd.
 test_directory="`mktemp -d`"
-trap 'rm -rf "$test_directory"' EXIT
+trap 'find "$test_directory" -type d -exec chmod +w {} \; ;rm -rf "$test_directory"' EXIT
 cd "$test_directory"
 tar -xf "$the_pack"
 test -L opt/gnu/bin
@@ -74,10 +74,23 @@ is_available () {
 if is_available chroot && is_available unshare; then
     # Verify we can use what we built.
     unshare -r chroot . /opt/gnu/bin/guile --version
-    cd -
 else
     echo "warning: skipped some verification because chroot or unshare is unavailable" >&2
 fi
+cd -
+rm -rf "$test_directory"
+
+# Build a tarball with '--localstatedir'
+the_pack="`guix pack -C none --localstatedir --profile-name=current-guix \
+            guile-bootstrap`"
+test_directory="`mktemp -d`"
+cd "$test_directory"
+tar -xf "$the_pack"
+
+profile="`find -name current-guix`"
+test "`readlink $profile`" = "current-guix-1-link"
+test -s "`dirname $profile`/../../../db/db.sqlite"
+test -x ".`guix build guile-bootstrap`/bin/guile"
 
 # For the tests that build Docker images below, we currently have to use
 # --dry-run because if we don't, there are only two possible cases:
-- 
2.19.1

[bug#33111] [PATCH 3/3] build: Binary tarball now populates the "current-guix" profile.

[Ludovic Courtès]

* Makefile.am (guix-binary.%.tar.xz): Pass
'--profile-name=current-guix'.  Remove glibc and glibc-utf8-locales.
* doc/guix.texi (Binary Installation): Update accordingly.
* etc/guix-install.sh
* etc/guix-install.sh (sys_create_store, sys_enable_guix_daemon)
(sys_authorize_build_farms): Likewise.
* etc/guix-publish.conf.in, etc/guix-publish.service.in,
etc/guix-daemon.conf.in, etc/guix-daemon.service.in: Update file names
accordingly.
---
 Makefile.am                 |  6 ++----
 doc/guix.texi               | 30 ++++++++++++++++++------------
 etc/guix-daemon.conf.in     |  2 +-
 etc/guix-daemon.service.in  |  4 ++--
 etc/guix-install.sh         | 21 +++++++++++----------
 etc/guix-publish.conf.in    |  2 +-
 etc/guix-publish.service.in |  4 ++--
 7 files changed, 37 insertions(+), 32 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 7fd29b90a..8b4c431b2 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -593,13 +593,11 @@ AM_DISTCHECK_CONFIGURE_FLAGS =			\
   --enable-daemon				\
   ac_cv_guix_test_root="$(GUIX_TEST_ROOT)"
 
-# The self-contained tarball.  Add 'glibc-utf8-locales' along with glibc just
-# so 'etc/profile' defines 'GUIX_LOCPATH' pointing to a valid set of locales.
+# The self-contained tarball.
 guix-binary.%.tar.xz:
 	$(AM_V_GEN)GUIX_PACKAGE_PATH=					\
 	tarball=`$(top_builddir)/pre-inst-env guix pack -K -C xz	\
-	  -s "$*" --localstatedir guix glibc-utf8-locales		\
-	  -e  '(@@ (gnu packages commencement) glibc-final)'` ;		\
+	  -s "$*" --localstatedir --profile-name=current-guix guix` ;	\
 	cp "$$tarball" "$@.tmp" ; mv "$@.tmp" "$@"
 
 
diff --git a/doc/guix.texi b/doc/guix.texi
index 7265eed91..de9f6ec25 100644
--- a/doc/guix.texi
+++ b/doc/guix.texi
@@ -487,18 +487,20 @@ archive content is independent of its creation time, thus making it
 reproducible.
 
 @item
-Make @code{root}'s profile available under @file{~root/.guix-profile}:
+Make the profile available under @file{~root/.config/guix/current}, which is
+where @command{guix pull} will install updates (@pxref{Invoking guix pull}):
 
 @example
-# ln -sf /var/guix/profiles/per-user/root/guix-profile \
-         ~root/.guix-profile
+# mkdir -p ~root/.config/guix
+# ln -sf /var/guix/profiles/per-user/root/current-guix \
+         ~root/.config/guix/current
 @end example
 
 Source @file{etc/profile} to augment @code{PATH} and other relevant
 environment variables:
 
 @example
-# GUIX_PROFILE="`echo ~root`/.guix-profile" ; \
+# GUIX_PROFILE="`echo ~root`/.config/guix/current" ; \
   source $GUIX_PROFILE/etc/profile
 @end example
 
@@ -520,8 +522,8 @@ with these commands:
 @c http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guix-devel/2017-01/msg01199.html
 
 @example
-# cp ~root/.guix-profile/lib/systemd/system/guix-daemon.service \
-        /etc/systemd/system/
+# cp ~root/.config/guix/current/lib/systemd/system/guix-daemon.service \
+     /etc/systemd/system/
 # systemctl start guix-daemon && systemctl enable guix-daemon
 @end example
 
@@ -529,14 +531,16 @@ If your host distro uses the Upstart init system:
 
 @example
 # initctl reload-configuration
-# cp ~root/.guix-profile/lib/upstart/system/guix-daemon.conf /etc/init/
+# cp ~root/.config/guix/current/lib/upstart/system/guix-daemon.conf \
+     /etc/init/
 # start guix-daemon
 @end example
 
 Otherwise, you can still start the daemon manually with:
 
 @example
-# ~root/.guix-profile/bin/guix-daemon --build-users-group=guixbuild
+# ~root/.config/guix/current/bin/guix-daemon \
+       --build-users-group=guixbuild
 @end example
 
 @item
@@ -546,7 +550,7 @@ for instance with:
 @example
 # mkdir -p /usr/local/bin
 # cd /usr/local/bin
-# ln -s /var/guix/profiles/per-user/root/guix-profile/bin/guix
+# ln -s /var/guix/profiles/per-user/root/current-guix/bin/guix
 @end example
 
 It is also a good idea to make the Info version of this manual available
@@ -555,7 +559,7 @@ there:
 @example
 # mkdir -p /usr/local/share/info
 # cd /usr/local/share/info
-# for i in /var/guix/profiles/per-user/root/guix-profile/share/info/* ;
+# for i in /var/guix/profiles/per-user/root/current-guix/share/info/* ;
   do ln -s $i ; done
 @end example
 
@@ -570,7 +574,8 @@ To use substitutes from @code{hydra.gnu.org} or one of its mirrors
 (@pxref{Substitutes}), authorize them:
 
 @example
-# guix archive --authorize < ~root/.guix-profile/share/guix/hydra.gnu.org.pub
+# guix archive --authorize < \
+     ~root/.config/guix/current/share/guix/hydra.gnu.org.pub
 @end example
 
 @item
@@ -604,7 +609,8 @@ make guix-binary.@var{system}.tar.xz
 ... which, in turn, runs:
 
 @example
-guix pack -s @var{system} --localstatedir guix
+guix pack -s @var{system} --localstatedir \
+  --profile-name=current-guix guix
 @end example
 
 @xref{Invoking guix pack}, for more info on this handy tool.
diff --git a/etc/guix-daemon.conf.in b/etc/guix-daemon.conf.in
index 74706055f..755192d55 100644
--- a/etc/guix-daemon.conf.in
+++ b/etc/guix-daemon.conf.in
@@ -7,4 +7,4 @@ start on runlevel [2345]
 
 stop on runlevel [016]
 
-exec @localstatedir@/guix/profiles/per-user/root/guix-profile/bin/guix-daemon --build-users-group=guixbuild
+exec @localstatedir@/guix/profiles/per-user/root/current-guix/bin/guix-daemon --build-users-group=guixbuild
diff --git a/etc/guix-daemon.service.in b/etc/guix-daemon.service.in
index 988cf90c0..99ec7c48f 100644
--- a/etc/guix-daemon.service.in
+++ b/etc/guix-daemon.service.in
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 Description=Build daemon for GNU Guix
 
 [Service]
-ExecStart=@localstatedir@/guix/profiles/per-user/root/guix-profile/bin/guix-daemon --build-users-group=guixbuild
-Environment=GUIX_LOCPATH=/root/.guix-profile/lib/locale
+ExecStart=@localstatedir@/guix/profiles/per-user/root/current-guix/bin/guix-daemon --build-users-group=guixbuild
+Environment=GUIX_LOCPATH=@localstatedir@/guix/profiles/per-user/root/guix-profile/lib/locale
 RemainAfterExit=yes
 StandardOutput=syslog
 StandardError=syslog
diff --git a/etc/guix-install.sh b/etc/guix-install.sh
index ca6874ba0..6a01e5972 100755
--- a/etc/guix-install.sh
+++ b/etc/guix-install.sh
@@ -269,12 +269,13 @@ sys_create_store()
     fi
 
     _msg "${INF}Linking the root user's profile"
-    ln -sf /var/guix/profiles/per-user/root/guix-profile \
-       "${ROOT_HOME}/.guix-profile"
+    mkdir -p "${ROOT_HOME}/.config/guix"
+    ln -sf /var/guix/profiles/per-user/root/current-guix \
+       "${ROOT_HOME}/.config/guix/current"
 
-    GUIX_PROFILE="${ROOT_HOME}/.guix-profile"
+    GUIX_PROFILE="${ROOT_HOME}/.config/guix/current"
     source "${GUIX_PROFILE}/etc/profile"
-    _msg "${PAS}activated root profile at /root/.guix-profile"
+    _msg "${PAS}activated root profile at ${ROOT_HOME}/.config/guix/current"
 }
 
 sys_create_build_user()
@@ -317,18 +318,18 @@ sys_enable_guix_daemon()
 
     info_path="/usr/local/share/info"
     local_bin="/usr/local/bin"
-    var_guix="/var/guix/profiles/per-user/root/guix-profile"
+    var_guix="/var/guix/profiles/per-user/root/current-guix"
 
     case "$INIT_SYS" in
         upstart)
             { initctl reload-configuration;
-              cp "${ROOT_HOME}/.guix-profile/lib/upstart/system/guix-daemon.conf" \
+              cp "${ROOT_HOME}/.config/guix/current/lib/upstart/system/guix-daemon.conf" \
                  /etc/init/ &&
                   start guix-daemon; } &&
                 _msg "${PAS}enabled Guix daemon via upstart"
             ;;
         systemd)
-            { cp "${ROOT_HOME}/.guix-profile/lib/systemd/system/guix-daemon.service" \
+            { cp "${ROOT_HOME}/.config/guix/current/lib/systemd/system/guix-daemon.service" \
                  /etc/systemd/system/;
               chmod 664 /etc/systemd/system/guix-daemon.service;
               systemctl daemon-reload &&
@@ -338,7 +339,7 @@ sys_enable_guix_daemon()
             ;;
         NA|*)
             _msg "${ERR}unsupported init system; run the daemon manually:"
-            echo "  ${ROOT_HOME}/.guix-profile/bin/guix-daemon --build-users-group=guixbuild"
+            echo "  ${ROOT_HOME}/.config/guix/current/bin/guix-daemon --build-users-group=guixbuild"
             ;;
     esac
 
@@ -358,9 +359,9 @@ sys_authorize_build_farms()
     while true; do
         read -p "Permit downloading pre-built package binaries from the project's build farms? (yes/no) " yn
         case $yn in
-            [Yy]*) guix archive --authorize < "${ROOT_HOME}/.guix-profile/share/guix/hydra.gnu.org.pub" &&
+            [Yy]*) guix archive --authorize < "${ROOT_HOME}/.config/guix/current/share/guix/hydra.gnu.org.pub" &&
                          _msg "${PAS}Authorized public key for hydra.gnu.org";
-                   guix archive --authorize < "${ROOT_HOME}/.guix-profile/share/guix/berlin.guixsd.org.pub" &&
+                   guix archive --authorize < "${ROOT_HOME}/.config/guix/current/share/guix/berlin.guixsd.org.pub" &&
                        _msg "${PAS}Authorized public key for berlin.guixsd.org";
                    break;;
             [Nn]*) _msg "${INF}Skipped authorizing build farm public keys"
diff --git a/etc/guix-publish.conf.in b/etc/guix-publish.conf.in
index 241c59455..7b319f66a 100644
--- a/etc/guix-publish.conf.in
+++ b/etc/guix-publish.conf.in
@@ -9,4 +9,4 @@ stop on runlevel [016]
 
 task
 
-exec @localstatedir@/guix/profiles/per-user/root/guix-profile/bin/guix publish --user=nobody --port=8181
+exec @localstatedir@/guix/profiles/per-user/root/current-guix/bin/guix publish --user=nobody --port=8181
diff --git a/etc/guix-publish.service.in b/etc/guix-publish.service.in
index 8aaf09e3c..0526f9799 100644
--- a/etc/guix-publish.service.in
+++ b/etc/guix-publish.service.in
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 Description=Publish the GNU Guix store
 
 [Service]
-ExecStart=@localstatedir@/guix/profiles/per-user/root/guix-profile/bin/guix publish --user=nobody --port=8181
-Environment=GUIX_LOCPATH=/root/.guix-profile/lib/locale
+ExecStart=@localstatedir@/guix/profiles/per-user/root/current-guix/bin/guix publish --user=nobody --port=8181
+Environment=GUIX_LOCPATH=@localstatedir@/guix/profiles/per-user/root/guix-profile/lib/locale
 RemainAfterExit=yes
 StandardOutput=syslog
 StandardError=syslog
-- 
2.19.1

[bug#33111] [PATCH 0/3] Have the binary tarball populate ~root/.config/guix/current

[Ludovic Courtès]

Hello Guix!

Ludovic Courtès <ludo@gnu.org> skribis:

> These patches address this by having the binary tarball populate
> ~root/.config/guix/current like ‘guix pull’ does.
>
> There’s one downside though: with the last patch, the ‘glibc-utf8-locales’
> is no longer included because ~root/.config/guix/current would be the
> wrong place for it.  Consequently, users have to explicitly install it
> in ~root/.guix-profile and set GUIX_LOCPATH accordingly.

Any comments?  Ricardo?

Ludo’.

[bug#33111] [PATCH 0/3] Have the binary tarball populate ~root/.config/guix/current

[Ricardo Wurmus]

Hi Ludo,

>> These patches address this by having the binary tarball populate
>> ~root/.config/guix/current like ‘guix pull’ does.
>>
>> There’s one downside though: with the last patch, the ‘glibc-utf8-locales’
>> is no longer included because ~root/.config/guix/current would be the
>> wrong place for it.  Consequently, users have to explicitly install it
>> in ~root/.guix-profile and set GUIX_LOCPATH accordingly.
>
> Any comments?  Ricardo?

Thank you for fixing this very confusing situation!  It is very good to
start out with a

I’m not sure I understand why ~root/.config/guix/current would be the
wrong place for the locales package.  It is true that this directory is
for Guix only, but users don’t need to know about the locales package.

Is it a problem to install the locales package alongside Guix in the
“guix pull” profile, or is it just inelegant?

I think it would be unfortunate if older versions of Guix would stop
working or report warnings when they are used in combination with a
separately managed profile containing the locales.  The locales need to
match the glibc version that the program is linked with, so I would
prefer if we could keep Guix and the locales together.

You know that I find the separation of glibc-locales to be an
unfortunate tradeoff, which makes using Guix on foreign distros a little
less convenient.  While I think that this patch set is a definite
improvement over the current situation, I would be sad to see the
locales separated and become a source of frustration or confusion.

Is there something we can do about this?  Would it be acceptable to add
glibc-locales as an explicit input to the result of “guix pull”?  I
understand that we don’t usually add glibc-*locales as an input, but I
think in the special case of “guix pull” it could be a reasonable
compromise / an acceptable exception.  What do you think?

--
Ricardo

[bug#33111] [PATCH 0/3] Have the binary tarball populate ~root/.config/guix/current

[Ludovic Courtès]

Hello!

Ricardo Wurmus <rekado@elephly.net> skribis:

>>> These patches address this by having the binary tarball populate
>>> ~root/.config/guix/current like ‘guix pull’ does.
>>>
>>> There’s one downside though: with the last patch, the ‘glibc-utf8-locales’
>>> is no longer included because ~root/.config/guix/current would be the
>>> wrong place for it.  Consequently, users have to explicitly install it
>>> in ~root/.guix-profile and set GUIX_LOCPATH accordingly.
>>
>> Any comments?  Ricardo?
>
> Thank you for fixing this very confusing situation!  It is very good to
> start out with a

With a what?  :-)

> I’m not sure I understand why ~root/.config/guix/current would be the
> wrong place for the locales package.  It is true that this directory is
> for Guix only, but users don’t need to know about the locales package.
>
> Is it a problem to install the locales package alongside Guix in the
> “guix pull” profile, or is it just inelegant?

It’s inelegant and just a partial solution because ‘guix pull’ won’t
upgrade it.  It would also show up in ‘guix pull -l’, which isn’t great.

> I think it would be unfortunate if older versions of Guix would stop
> working or report warnings when they are used in combination with a
> separately managed profile containing the locales.  The locales need to
> match the glibc version that the program is linked with, so I would
> prefer if we could keep Guix and the locales together.
>
> You know that I find the separation of glibc-locales to be an
> unfortunate tradeoff, which makes using Guix on foreign distros a little
> less convenient.  While I think that this patch set is a definite
> improvement over the current situation, I would be sad to see the
> locales separated and become a source of frustration or confusion.
>
> Is there something we can do about this?  Would it be acceptable to add
> glibc-locales as an explicit input to the result of “guix pull”?  I
> understand that we don’t usually add glibc-*locales as an input, but I
> think in the special case of “guix pull” it could be a reasonable
> compromise / an acceptable exception.  What do you think?

I share your concern but I can’t think of a good solution.

Since ‘glibc-locales’ is big (520M on disk!) and more than what people
need, we certainly don’t want to pull it.  So we’d be pulling
‘glibc-utf8-locales’ as we currently do, knowing that it’s an arbitrary
choice of locales that favors Western countries.

Let’s say we arrange so ‘guix’ is wrapped such that GUIX_LOCPATH points
to a bundled ‘glibc-utf8-locales’.  That solves the problem for the
‘guix’ command, but it doesn’t solve it for other packages installed
with ‘guix’: users would still need to install ‘glibc-utf8-locales’.

A “proper fix” might be to add ‘glibc-utf8-locales’ to
~root/.guix-profile in the binary tarball.  However, as I wrote, it
would require us to improve ‘guix pack’ so it can populate several
profiles, which is not trivial and probably not very useful in other
situations.

On the bright side, ‘guix’ gives users the command to copy/paste to
install locales (commit 26db747a863b08ebcfd630cce635be86c23d829d), so
it’s not that bad.  :-)

Also, we could have the install script run ‘guix package -i
glibc-utf8-locales’ automatically.

Thoughts?

Thanks for your feedback!

Ludo’.

[bug#33111] [PATCH 0/3] Have the binary tarball populate ~root/.config/guix/current

[Ludovic Courtès]

Hi!

ludo@gnu.org (Ludovic Courtès) skribis:

> I share your concern but I can’t think of a good solution.

[...]

> Also, we could have the install script run ‘guix package -i
> glibc-utf8-locales’ automatically.

Since I don’t have a better idea, I’d like to go with this patch set,
and then possibly augment the install script as noted above.

How does that sound?

Thanks,
Ludo’.

bug#33111: [PATCH 0/3] Have the binary tarball populate ~root/.config/guix/current

[Ludovic Courtès]

ludo@gnu.org (Ludovic Courtès) skribis:

> ludo@gnu.org (Ludovic Courtès) skribis:
>
>> I share your concern but I can’t think of a good solution.
>
> [...]
>
>> Also, we could have the install script run ‘guix package -i
>> glibc-utf8-locales’ automatically.
>
> Since I don’t have a better idea, I’d like to go with this patch set,
> and then possibly augment the install script as noted above.

I went ahead and pushed it as e9926f80c6553fde50ce1fcfd38d6370f841efd2.

Thanks,
Ludo’.