Re: Guix with Debian GNU/Linux

[Ni* <niasterisk@grrlz.net>]

ludo@gnu.org (Ludovic Courtès) writes:

> Ni* <niasterisk@grrlz.net> skribis:
>
>> From using GuixSD I know that as little files as possible should be
>> created in /etc. When using Guix alone, is this still the recommended
>> way of doing things?
>
> Most of the time, you can choose where to store config files, in /etc or
> elsewhere.
>
>> What I need to know for a server environment is, if I install tor and
>> serve non-exit tor relays, will the config be read from the location I
>> am used to (/etc/tor/) or does it differ? (same about httpd/nginx, etc)
>
> Most programs allow you to choose which configuration file to use.  For
> instance, one can run:
>
>   tor -f /path/to/torrc
>
> and Tor will pick its config file from there.  I think the same is true
> of nginx and httpd.
>
I have to correct myself, as I confused tor configuration with
GuixSD, where I have the impression it (tor) is configured in the
system config.scm to some degree.
Correction: debian to my knowledge (I don't have much in depth Debian
experience, slackware forks, gentoo, archlinux, etc everything more used
than Debian) runs with some /etc/init.d/* files + systemd combination.
When I use Guix to just install packages, do I write
systemd/debian-thing service/startup files, or am I confused by being
exposed to Guix as GuixSD which runs dmd?
>> What are things I should look for and be careful about? What can be
>> removed from the hostsystem, what needs to stay?
>
> Compared to GuixSD, a couple of things need tweaking to work smoothly;
> see <https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/html_node/Application-Setup.html>.
>
> As to what to keep in the host distro, it’s up to you!
>
> In some cases, you’ll have to make a binary choice; for instance, if you
> use Guile from Guix, you’ll have to use Guile packages (say, Guile-SSH,
> Guile-JSON, etc.) from Guix as well since otherwise they would end up
> loading different variants of libguile.so and libc.so.
Okay, this makes sense. Thanks for the pointers.
>
>> Are guix updates handled the same way as they are done in GuixSD
>> (guix pull ; guix package -u)?
>
> Yes.
>
> Out of curiosity, what are the technical reasons that led you to prefer
> Guix-over-Debian rather than GuixSD, since you tried GuixSD already?
>
Simple (but detailed) answer:
I host with IN-Berlin[1] on virtual servers, they only provide Debian.
If I could explain to them how to deploy it for servers (maybe images
for the hardware they run the vservers on would already be enough),
I would be able to run GuixSD. One thing I did though was telling and
explaining one of people responsible for IN-Berlin what Guix and GuixSD
is. Maybe it will be possible at some time in the future, they are very
friendly.
I would however prefer dedicated servers by now, but in the Ruhrarea
(Region in Germany, NRW) the choice of ISPs, DCs and otherwise Hosters
is so big that I always end up realizing that I can do better things
with my time and leave it be. If I would be in Berlin regulary,
maintenance would be no problem with colocation with IN-Berlin. Or
hosting with free.de here, but I would say they don't like to answer questions
about colocation contracts, at least that's my sad past experience with
them, it would be a 10 minute ride to free.de from here.

> Thanks,
> Ludo’.

1: Individual Network Berlin e.V. http://in-berlin.de

Thanks,

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