[bug#28251] [PATCH 0/3] Add generic JSON importer

[Ricardo Wurmus <rekado@elephly.net>]

I have since made a couple of minor changes like adding a missing (guix
gexp) import, adding the new script to the MODULES in Makefile.am, and
adding a simple test for “data->guix-package”.

I also have a small patch to “guix build -f”; given a file ending on
“.json” it will parse the JSON and run “data->guix-package”.  I have
confirmed that this works for the “hello” package in JSON format.

If this looks like a good idea I’ll convert the recursive CRAN importer
to produce package objects; as a next step I’d extend “guix build” to
accept a “--via=IMPORTER” option, which would cause a package to be
imported and then built without requiring the manual work of writing or
generating a package definition in Scheme.  (Optionally, it could
generate the code that could be contributed to Guix.)

This is not meant to ever replace Scheme package definitions, but I
think it can make importers useful to users, not only developers.

--
Ricardo

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