From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Chris Marusich Subject: Re: Guix vs GuixSD Date: Sun, 06 Mar 2016 22:57:49 -0800 Message-ID: <874mcisrki.fsf@gmail.com> References: <87twla6cw0.fsf@gmail.com> <87pov9hehn.fsf@gmail.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Return-path: Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:55114) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1acp73-00005i-Vm for guix-devel@gnu.org; Mon, 07 Mar 2016 01:57:54 -0500 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1acp72-00027o-K8 for guix-devel@gnu.org; Mon, 07 Mar 2016 01:57:53 -0500 Received: from mail-pa0-x236.google.com ([2607:f8b0:400e:c03::236]:36192) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1acp72-00027h-96 for guix-devel@gnu.org; Mon, 07 Mar 2016 01:57:52 -0500 Received: by mail-pa0-x236.google.com with SMTP id tt10so11475359pab.3 for ; Sun, 06 Mar 2016 22:57:51 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: <87pov9hehn.fsf@gmail.com> (myglc2@gmail.com's message of "Fri, 04 Mar 2016 20:59:00 -0500") List-Id: "Development of GNU Guix and the GNU System distribution." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: guix-devel-bounces+gcggd-guix-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sender: guix-devel-bounces+gcggd-guix-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: myglc2 Cc: guix-devel@gnu.org myglc2 writes: Everyone loves pictures! Here are my thoughts about the graphic: * What do the different colors mean? It is not clear to me what red, blue, and gray mean. I see that some of the boxes are grouped by color, but I don't see the pattern. The same question applies to the round corners vs. sharp corners. If there is no discernible pattern, maybe they should look more similar. * Why is the "rpc" arrow drawn using dashed lines, but all other arrows are drawn using solid lines? I think you can just use solid lines in all cases to reduce cognitive noise. * Guix Hydra: This graphic makes hydra look special. But can't this role be filled by anyone with a server who has built and published packages (e.g., with guix publish)? Hydra is just the default place from which substitues are downloaded. Perhaps we can rename this to something like "substitutes publisher" to reflect the decentralized architecture of guix, which is one of its great features. * Guix Hydra: consider replacing "prebuilt package" with "substitutes" or "binary substitutes", so that it matches the terminology used in other parts of the manual. * Guix build daemon: consider calling this simply the "guix daemon". * GNU Guix Binary Install on Debian: consider removing the word "binary". I don't think it adds any clarity here, especially because you can build Guix from source on Debian. * GNU GuixSD Native Install: consider calling this the "GNU Guix System Distribution (GuixSD)" to match the terminology used in the manual. I don't think that using the word "native" adds any clarity here. * GNU GuixSD Native Install: To make the commentary for the arrow pointing to "system packages" match the the commentary for the arrow in "GNU Guix Binary Install on Debian" pointing to "Debian packages," consider using a specific common program name as the example. For instance, use "/usr/bin/sh" (or whatever the path is on Debian) and "/run/current-system/profile/bin/sh". Currently, the Debian example uses the "/usr/bin" directory, while the GuixSD example uses a conceptually different directory, so the comparison is not as clear as it could be. * Consider replacing the single word "guix" with a phrase like "guix tools and packages", since the contents of ~/.config/guix/latest, if present, will be used for both command-line tools like "guix package" as well as for finding package definitions. * One concept that is missing from this graphic is the idea that you can add your own custom package definitions via the GUIX_PACKAGE_PATH environment variable (or the --load-path option to commands such as "guix build"). Adding this concept to the graphic may help users more quickly realize the freedom they have for hooking up their own package definitions into the Guix system, which is not as easy to do using other package managers. What do you think? Can it be added without cluttering it up too much? * Consider replacing "Debian" with "foreign distribution" to keep the graphic sufficiently generic. * "Guix system services": consider renaming "Guix" to "GuixSD". Also, I wonder if including this box here will make people think that GuixSD services are basically the same as other services launched by init systems like systemd in distros like Debian on startup. Case in point: where does the "operating-system-etc-service" fit in? Does it have a Debian analogue? I'm not sure. Maybe this is OK as-is. Thank you for taking the time to make a graphic to help explain things! Chris