Questions about "guix pull"

Questions about "guix pull"

[Chris Marusich]

Hi,

I have read the Info node "(guix) Invoking guix pull", but it doesn't
seem to answer the following questions:

- Who is allowed to run "guix pull"? Only root? Any user?

- After a successful "guix pull", are the new guix tools and package
  definitions visible to everyone, regardless of who ran the command?

- Are there any best practices, or pitfalls to avoid, when using "guix
  pull"?

- I understand that some people don't use "guix pull" and instead just
  run guix from a local git checkout. Should the manual also explain why
  you might want to do that and how it can be done?

I'm happy to submit a patch to improve this Info node, but I need to
understand "guix pull" first.

Thank you,
Chris

Re: Questions about "guix pull"

[Efraim Flashner]

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On Wed, 17 Feb 2016 00:50:01 -0800
Chris Marusich <cmmarusich@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I have read the Info node "(guix) Invoking guix pull", but it doesn't
> seem to answer the following questions:
> 
> - Who is allowed to run "guix pull"? Only root? Any user?

Anybody can. Also, each user (and root) have their own snapshot of the guix
packages, so knowing that someone else just ran `guix pull` won't allow you
to upgrade your packages. One way it will help you, is if there's been no
change to git between the last pull on the system (by anybody) and the next
pull, the next one will reuse the definitions already saved on the machine
and not recompile them.

> - After a successful "guix pull", are the new guix tools and package
>   definitions visible to everyone, regardless of who ran the command?
 
Available to whomever ran the command.

> - Are there any best practices, or pitfalls to avoid, when using "guix
>   pull"?

In "guix on a foreign distro (aka not GuixSD)" /usr/bin/local/guix is a
symlink to root's copy of guix. When I notice that the guix binary has been
updated, I also run `sudo guix pull && sudo guix package -u`. As above, `guix
pull && sudo guix pull` will likely get the speed benefit for the sudo guix
pull.
 
> - I understand that some people don't use "guix pull" and instead just
>   run guix from a local git checkout. Should the manual also explain why
>   you might want to do that and how it can be done?

The manual does have a section about using guix before installing. 8.1 and
8.2 has some information about that.

> I'm happy to submit a patch to improve this Info node, but I need to
> understand "guix pull" first.
> 
> Thank you,
> Chris
> 

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Re: Questions about "guix pull"

[Andreas Enge]

On Wed, Feb 17, 2016 at 12:05:03PM +0200, Efraim Flashner wrote:
> In "guix on a foreign distro (aka not GuixSD)" /usr/bin/local/guix is a
> symlink to root's copy of guix.

This is a somewhat strong wording; it depends on how root has installed
guix in the first place. I think the approach you hint at is recommended
by the manual. Personally I do a "make install" on my git checkout and have
/usr/local/bin/guix point to $PREFIX/bin/guix, where $PREFIX is what I gave
when doing "./configure --prefix=$PREFIX" for guix.

Andreas

Re: Questions about "guix pull"

[Ludovic Courtès]

Chris Marusich <cmmarusich@gmail.com> skribis:

> I have read the Info node "(guix) Invoking guix pull", but it doesn't
> seem to answer the following questions:
>
> - Who is allowed to run "guix pull"? Only root? Any user?
>
> - After a successful "guix pull", are the new guix tools and package
>   definitions visible to everyone, regardless of who ran the command?

I’ve added a paragraph to clarify that:

  Any user can update their Guix copy using @command{guix pull}, and the
  effect is limited to the user who run @command{guix pull}.  For
  instance, when user @code{root} runs @command{guix pull}, this has no
  effect on the version of Guix that user @code{alice} sees, and vice
  versa@footnote{Under the hood, @command{guix pull} updates the
  @file{~/.config/guix/latest} symbolic link to point to the latest Guix,
  and the @command{guix} command loads code from there.}.

> - Are there any best practices, or pitfalls to avoid, when using "guix
>   pull"?

Currently ‘guix pull’ updates only the Scheme part of Guix, which is
certainly the most important thing but not the only thing: see
<http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=22629>.

> - I understand that some people don't use "guix pull" and instead just
>   run guix from a local git checkout. Should the manual also explain why
>   you might want to do that and how it can be done?

I think this is mostly due to the fact that (1) many users are also Guix
developers, so they have a Git checkout around anyway ;-), (2) using the
Git checkout is usually faster (currently ‘guix pull’ redownloads the
whole thing.)

There’s also the problem that ‘guix pull’ does not authenticate the code
it downloads; the problem is also present with Git, though (currently
only release tags are signed in Guix.)  All this needs to be fixed!

> I'm happy to submit a patch to improve this Info node, but I need to
> understand "guix pull" first.

Sure!

Thanks for your feedback,
Ludo’.

Re: Questions about "guix pull"

[Andreas Enge]

Small typo:

On Wed, Feb 24, 2016 at 10:17:45PM +0100, Ludovic Courtès wrote:
>   Any user can update their Guix copy using @command{guix pull}, and the
>   effect is limited to the user who run @command{guix pull}.  For

"the user who run_s_"

Andreas

Re: Questions about "guix pull"

[Ludovic Courtès]

Andreas Enge <andreas@enge.fr> skribis:

> Small typo:
>
> On Wed, Feb 24, 2016 at 10:17:45PM +0100, Ludovic Courtès wrote:
>>   Any user can update their Guix copy using @command{guix pull}, and the
>>   effect is limited to the user who run @command{guix pull}.  For
>
> "the user who run_s_"

US spelling of the preterit of “run”, I think.  :-)

Ludo’.

Re: Questions about "guix pull"

[Leo Famulari]

On Sat, Feb 27, 2016 at 06:25:33PM +0100, Ludovic Courtès wrote:
> Andreas Enge <andreas@enge.fr> skribis:
> 
> > Small typo:
> >
> > On Wed, Feb 24, 2016 at 10:17:45PM +0100, Ludovic Courtès wrote:
> >>   Any user can update their Guix copy using @command{guix pull}, and the
> >>   effect is limited to the user who run @command{guix pull}.  For
> >
> > "the user who run_s_"
> 
> US spelling of the preterit of “run”, I think.  :-)

I've never heard the word "preterit" before, so I looked it up on
Wikipedia, and this example was offered:

---

A number of English verbs form their preterites irregularly, a result of
either Ablaut, a regular set of sound changes (to an interior vowel) in
the conjugation of a strong verb, or because the verb conjugations are
the remains of a more complex system of tenses in irregular verbs:

[...]

* He ran to the store. (Preterite of "run".)

---

Re: Questions about "guix pull"

[Chris Marusich]

Leo Famulari <leo@famulari.name> writes:

Thank you all for the thoughtful responses - and the patch! The new copy
of the documentation makes things much clearer.

Chris