bug#63608: UTF-8 support absent within guix shell --pure less

bug#63608: UTF-8 support absent within guix shell --pure less

[Bruno Victal]

Within a ``guix shell --pure less'' environment, the “less” command
does not display UTF-8 characters properly:
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
~/src/guix$ guix shell --pure less
~/src/guix [env]$ less gnu/packages/java-xml.scm
"gnu/packages/java-xml.scm" may be a binary file.  See it anyway?
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

Answering the prompt with 'y' will display:
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
;;; GNU Guix --- Functional package management for GNU
;;; Copyright <C2><A9> 2017, 2021, 2023 Ricardo Wurmus <rekado@elephly.net>
;;; Copyright <C2><A9> 2017, 2018, 2021 Julien Lepiller <julien@lepiller.eu>
;;; Copyright <C2><A9> 2018 G<C3><A1>bor Boskovits <boskovits@gmail.com>
;;; Copyright <C2><A9> 2019, 2021 Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me@tobias.gr>
;;; Copyright <C2><A9> 2020 Vincent Legoll <vincent.legoll@gmail.com>
;;; Copyright <C2><A9> 2021 L<C3><A9>o Le Bouter <lle-bout@zaclys.net>
;;; Copyright <C2><A9> 2022 Christopher Baines <mail@cbaines.net>
;;;
;;; This file is part of GNU Guix.

…
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

This can be worked around by setting the LESSCHARSET environment variable:
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
~/src/guix [env]$ LESSCHARSET=utf8 less gnu/packages/java-xml.scm
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

Which will correctly display (without any prompts):
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
;;; GNU Guix --- Functional package management for GNU
;;; Copyright © 2017, 2021, 2023 Ricardo Wurmus <rekado@elephly.net>
;;; Copyright © 2017, 2018, 2021 Julien Lepiller <julien@lepiller.eu>
;;; Copyright © 2018 Gábor Boskovits <boskovits@gmail.com>
;;; Copyright © 2019, 2021 Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me@tobias.gr>
;;; Copyright © 2020 Vincent Legoll <vincent.legoll@gmail.com>
;;; Copyright © 2021 Léo Le Bouter <lle-bout@zaclys.net>
;;; Copyright © 2022 Christopher Baines <mail@cbaines.net>
;;;
;;; This file is part of GNU Guix.

…
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

This does not happen with a non-pure ``guix shell less'', it properly
shows UTF-8 characters without having to manually set any environment
variables.
Adding glibc-locales to ``guix shell --pure less glibc-locales''
does not help either and in neither environments is GUIX_LOCPATH set
as it was suggested at <https://logs.guix.gnu.org/guix/2023-05-20.log#035013>.

bug#63608: UTF-8 support absent within guix shell --pure less

[Maxim Cournoyer]

Hi Bruno,

Bruno Victal <mirai@makinata.eu> writes:

[...]


> ;;; GNU Guix --- Functional package management for GNU
> ;;; Copyright <C2><A9> 2017, 2021, 2023 Ricardo Wurmus <rekado@elephly.net>
> ;;; Copyright <C2><A9> 2017, 2018, 2021 Julien Lepiller <julien@lepiller.eu>
> ;;; Copyright <C2><A9> 2018 G<C3><A1>bor Boskovits <boskovits@gmail.com>
> ;;; Copyright <C2><A9> 2019, 2021 Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me@tobias.gr>
> ;;; Copyright <C2><A9> 2020 Vincent Legoll <vincent.legoll@gmail.com>
> ;;; Copyright <C2><A9> 2021 L<C3><A9>o Le Bouter <lle-bout@zaclys.net>
> ;;; Copyright <C2><A9> 2022 Christopher Baines <mail@cbaines.net>
> ;;;
> ;;; This file is part of GNU Guix.
>
> …
>
>
> This can be worked around by setting the LESSCHARSET environment variable:
>
> ~/src/guix [env]$ LESSCHARSET=utf8 less gnu/packages/java-xml.scm
>
>
> Which will correctly display (without any prompts):
>
> ;;; GNU Guix --- Functional package management for GNU
> ;;; Copyright © 2017, 2021, 2023 Ricardo Wurmus <rekado@elephly.net>
> ;;; Copyright © 2017, 2018, 2021 Julien Lepiller <julien@lepiller.eu>
> ;;; Copyright © 2018 Gábor Boskovits <boskovits@gmail.com>
> ;;; Copyright © 2019, 2021 Tobias Geerinckx-Rice <me@tobias.gr>
> ;;; Copyright © 2020 Vincent Legoll <vincent.legoll@gmail.com>
> ;;; Copyright © 2021 Léo Le Bouter <lle-bout@zaclys.net>
> ;;; Copyright © 2022 Christopher Baines <mail@cbaines.net>
> ;;;
> ;;; This file is part of GNU Guix.
>
> …
>
> This does not happen with a non-pure ``guix shell less'', it properly
> shows UTF-8 characters without having to manually set any environment
> variables.
> Adding glibc-locales to ``guix shell --pure less glibc-locales''
> does not help either and in neither environments is GUIX_LOCPATH set
> as it was suggested at <https://logs.guix.gnu.org/guix/2023-05-20.log#035013>.

So GUIX_LOCPATH is *not* set, right?  Could you try adding 'glibc' to
the environment as well?  It's the one providing the GUIX_LOCPATH search
path.

-- 
Thanks,
Maxim

bug#63608: UTF-8 support absent within guix shell --pure less

[Bruno Victal]

On 2023-05-22 15:25, Maxim Cournoyer wrote:> So GUIX_LOCPATH is *not* set, right?  Could you try adding 'glibc' to
> the environment as well?  It's the one providing the GUIX_LOCPATH search
> path.

The issue still remains (with and without glibc-locales):

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
~/src/guix$ guix shell --pure less glibc glibc-locales
~/src/guix [env]$ less gnu/packages/java-xml.scm
"gnu/packages/java-xml.scm" may be a binary file.  See it anyway? 
…

~/src/guix [env]$ echo $GUIX_LOCPATH
/gnu/store/654wv1gyw1r2gpcwggmn8spbcrq5b9vq-profile/lib/locale
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---


-- 
Furthermore, I consider that nonfree software must be eradicated.

Cheers,
Bruno.