use case: installing several user administrated workstations

use case: installing several user administrated workstations

[Quiliro's lists]

Dear community:

I have noticed Guix System Distribution (I like to abreviate it GSD) is
great for having a predictable, hackable system, which is entirely
auditable. I like this. It is like making your own ... anything (car,
house, clothes,etc). It gives you great power and endless possibilities
of creativity, sharing and learning.

When I think of installing GSD on user machines that I will never see
again (as at an installfest), I feel certain unease. It is so because I
have had to change my desktop.scm system configuration file every time I
want to update my whole operating system. That is a task that no end
user will ever be able to do.

Is there a way that when I run 'sudo guix system reconfigure
desktop.scm', the user (system admin for his machine) can take the
current config and make a new config file (desktop1.scm) with the new
synthax? It is, of course, impossible without a translation from what
was intended in desktop.scm to what is the current situation when
creating desktop1.scm. 
Thank you for your responses.

-- 
Saluton.
Quiliro Ordonez

Do you prefer speaking English?
Vous voulez parler Français?
Çu vi volas paroli Esperanton?

use case: installing several user administrated workstations

[Quiliro Ordóñez]

Dear community:

I have noticed Guix System Distribution (I like to abreviate it GSD) is
great for having a predictable, hackable system, which is entirely
auditable. I like this. It is like making your own ... anything (car,
house, clothes,etc). It gives you great power and endless possibilities
of creativity, sharing and learning.

When I think of installing GSD on user machines that I will never see
again (as at an installfest), I feel certain unease. It is so because I
have had to change my desktop.scm system configuration file every time I
want to update my whole operating system. That is a task that no end
user will ever be able to do.

Is there a way that when I run 'sudo guix system reconfigure
desktop.scm', the user (system admin for his machine) can take the
current config and make a new config file (desktop1.scm) with the new
synthax? It is, of course, impossible without a translation from what
was intended in desktop.scm to what is the current situation when
creating desktop1.scm. 
Thank you for your responses.

-- 
Saluton.
Quiliro Ordonez

Do you prefer speaking English?
Vous voulez parler Français?
Çu vi volas paroli Esperanton?

Re: use case: installing several user administrated workstations

[swedebugia]

On 2019-05-13 23:19, Quiliro Ordóñez wrote:
> Dear community:
> 
> I have noticed Guix System Distribution (I like to abreviate it GSD) is
> great for having a predictable, hackable system, which is entirely
> auditable. I like this. It is like making your own ... anything (car,
> house, clothes,etc). It gives you great power and endless possibilities
> of creativity, sharing and learning.
> 
> When I think of installing GSD on user machines that I will never see
> again (as at an installfest), I feel certain unease. It is so because I
> have had to change my desktop.scm system configuration file every time I
> want to update my whole operating system. That is a task that no end
> user will ever be able to do.
> 
> Is there a way that when I run 'sudo guix system reconfigure
> desktop.scm', the user (system admin for his machine) can take the
> current config and make a new config file (desktop1.scm) with the new
> synthax? It is, of course, impossible without a translation from what
> was intended in desktop.scm to what is the current situation when
> creating desktop1.scm.

Not to my knowledge.

Guix System is not IMHO ready for people who are not interested in 
learning enough guile to write/correct/adapt a config.scm.

We/someone have yet to make gui tools to handle the reconfiguring of the 
system easier for non-tech users.

-- 
Cheers
Swedebugia

Re: use case: installing several user administrated workstations

[Ludovic Courtès]

Hi,

swedebugia <swedebugia@riseup.net> skribis:

> Guix System is not IMHO ready for people who are not interested in
> learning enough guile to write/correct/adapt a config.scm.

My hope is that people would be able to quickly learn enough to get
their OS config into shape, without having to “learn Guile”, or not
explicitly so.

There are things we should do to help achieve that goal, such as
improving error reporting, but that remains an important goal for me.
It’s about empowering users.

> We/someone have yet to make gui tools to handle the reconfiguring of
> the system easier for non-tech users.

Perhaps we could reuse bits of the installer to assist users in fiddling
with their config.

Thanks,
Ludo’.

Re: use case: installing several user administrated workstations

[Quiliro's lists]

Thank you Swedebugia and Ludovic.

El 2019-05-19 09:52, Ludovic Courtès escribió:
> Hi,
> 
> swedebugia <swedebugia@riseup.net> skribis:
> 
>> Guix System is not IMHO ready for people who are not interested in
>> learning enough guile to write/correct/adapt a config.scm.
> 
> My hope is that people would be able to quickly learn enough to get
> their OS config into shape, without having to “learn Guile”, or not
> explicitly so.
> 
> There are things we should do to help achieve that goal, such as
> improving error reporting, but that remains an important goal for me.
> It’s about empowering users.
> 
>> We/someone have yet to make gui tools to handle the reconfiguring of
>> the system easier for non-tech users.
> 
> Perhaps we could reuse bits of the installer to assist users in fiddling
> with their config.

I like this take. How can I help?