Re: Guix CLI, thoughts and suggestions

[Carlo Zancanaro <carlo@zancanaro.id.au>]

Hi Ian,

On Sat, Jan 20 2024, Ian Eure wrote:
> I agree that this would make sense, but my understanding is that `guix
> package' doesn’t work like that -- it only performs the final
> operation in the list.  IMO, it should either do *everything* the
> commands specify, or print an error and take no action.

It can accumulate multiple commands. As an example, if you create a
profile with a single package in it:

  $ guix package -i hello
  The following package will be installed:
     hello 2.12.1
  ... more output...

then you can remove that package and install another package in a single
transaction:

  $ guix package -r hello -i coreutils
  The following package will be removed:
     hello 2.12.1

  The following package will be installed:
     coreutils 9.1
  ... more output...

The inconsistency here is that some commands can be combined
(specifically adding and removing), whereas others cannot (probably
everything else).

> I agree, I don’t think the situation can be improved without finding a
> solution to preserve BC.  But, I didn’t think it was worth making
> detailed plans for any of this before gauging whether the problem was
> one broadly considered to be worth solving.

I think it would be great to have a consistent CLI, so I would love it
if we were able to solve this problem.

Carlo