Re: Guix with Debian GNU/Linux

[ludo@gnu.org (Ludovic Courtès)]

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.

> 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.

> 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?

Thanks,
Ludo’.