bug#35590: Emacs info can't open info manuals

bug#35590: Emacs info can't open info manuals

[sirgazil]

I can't open info manuals in an Emacs freshly installed in my GNU system installed in a real machine using the ISO installer (https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/guix/guix-system-install-1.0.0.x86_64-linux.iso.xz).

## Steps to reproduce

1. guix install emacs
2. Start Emacs.
3. M-x info Enter.
4. m Guix Enter (or any other manual).


## Unexpected result

The manual is not displayed, and the minibuffer says:

    Uncompression program 'sh' not found


## Expected result

The Guix manual is displayed.

---
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bug#35590: Emacs info can't open info manuals

[Mark H Weaver]

Hi,

sirgazil <sirgazil@zoho.com> writes:

> I can't open info manuals in an Emacs freshly installed in my GNU
> system installed in a real machine using the ISO installer
> (https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/guix/guix-system-install-1.0.0.x86_64-linux.iso.xz).
>
> ## Steps to reproduce
>
> 1. guix install emacs
> 2. Start Emacs.
> 3. M-x info Enter.
> 4. m Guix Enter (or any other manual).
>
>
> ## Unexpected result
>
> The manual is not displayed, and the minibuffer says:
>
>     Uncompression program 'sh' not found

This is surprising.  On a Guix system, sh is unconditionally installed
in /bin/sh.  If you type M-x getenv PATH RET in Emacs, does the
displayed string include /bin?  Does M-! sh RET show an error?

     Thanks,
       Mark

bug#35590: Emacs info can't open info manuals

[sirgazil]

---- On Sun, 05 May 2019 21:26:15 -0500 Mark H Weaver <mhw@netris.org> wrote ----

 > Hi, 
 >  
 > sirgazil <sirgazil@zoho.com> writes: 
 >  
 > > I can't open info manuals in an Emacs freshly installed in my GNU 
 > > system installed in a real machine using the ISO installer 
 > > (https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/guix/guix-system-install-1.0.0.x86_64-linux.iso.xz). 
 > > 
 > > ## Steps to reproduce 
 > > 
 > > 1. guix install emacs 
 > > 2. Start Emacs. 
 > > 3. M-x info Enter. 
 > > 4. m Guix Enter (or any other manual). 
 > > 
 > > 
 > > ## Unexpected result 
 > > 
 > > The manual is not displayed, and the minibuffer says: 
 > > 
 > >     Uncompression program 'sh' not found 
 >  
 > This is surprising.  On a Guix system, sh is unconditionally installed 
 > in /bin/sh.  If you type M-x getenv PATH RET in Emacs, does the 
 > displayed string include /bin?  Does M-! sh RET show an error? 


M-x getenv PATH RET shows "bin"s in other paths, but not "/bin":

/gnu/store/hk4f641r18vpj44m42pny6rp1nwg3d4w-glib-2.56.3-bin/bin:/home/sirgazil/.guix-profile/bin:/home/sirgazil/.guix-profile/sbin:/run/setuid-programs:/home/sirgazil/.config/guix/current/bin:/home/sirgazil/.guix-profile/bin:/home/sirgazil/.guix-profile/sbin:/run/current-system/profile/bin:/run/current-system/profile/sbin

"/bin/sh" exists in the system, though:

    $ ls -l /bin
    total 4
    lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 62 may  6 06:19 sh -> /gnu/store/qn1ax1fkj16x280m1rv7mcimfmn9l2pf-bash-4.4.23/bin/sh

M-! sh RET results in "command not found":

    /gnu/store/qn1ax1fkj16x280m1rv7mcimfmn9l2pf-bash-4.4.23/bin/bash: sh: no se encontró la orden

bug#35590: Emacs info can't open info manuals

[Mark H Weaver]

Hi,

sirgazil <sirgazil@zoho.com> writes:

> M-x getenv PATH RET shows "bin"s in other paths, but not "/bin":
>
> /gnu/store/hk4f641r18vpj44m42pny6rp1nwg3d4w-glib-2.56.3-bin/bin:/home/sirgazil/.guix-profile/bin:/home/sirgazil/.guix-profile/sbin:/run/setuid-programs:/home/sirgazil/.config/guix/current/bin:/home/sirgazil/.guix-profile/bin:/home/sirgazil/.guix-profile/sbin:/run/current-system/profile/bin:/run/current-system/profile/sbin

My first thought was "Why isn't /bin in your PATH?", but actually I see
that /bin isn't in my PATH either, but that doesn't matter because
'bash' is installed in my system profile, which means that I have 'sh'
in /run/current-system/profile/bin.

You should too, but apparently you don't.

'bash' is included in %base-packages, which should normally be included
in your 'packages' field of your OS config.  It should look something
like this:

  ;; This is where we specify system-wide packages.
  (packages (append (list
                     ;; your added
                     ;; packages here
                     )
                    %base-packages))

If you don't include %base-packages in your system profile, you are
likely to run into problems.  Several of the packages in there could be
safely deleted, but some of them, including 'sh', are widely assumed to
always be in PATH.

If you want to remove a few programs from %base-packages, I recommend
doing something like this:

  ;; This is where we specify system-wide packages.
  (packages (append (list
                     ;; your added
                     ;; packages here
                     )
                    (fold delete %base-packages (list sudo nano))))

Note that 'fold' is in (srfi srfi-1), so you'll need to import it in
your OS config file if you use it.

       Mark

bug#35590: Emacs info can't open info manuals

[sirgazil]

---- On Mon, 06 May 2019 10:07:36 -0500 Mark H Weaver <mhw@netris.org> wrote ----

 > Hi, 
 >  
 > sirgazil <sirgazil@zoho.com> writes: 
 >  
 > > M-x getenv PATH RET shows "bin"s in other paths, but not "/bin": 
 > > 
 > > /gnu/store/hk4f641r18vpj44m42pny6rp1nwg3d4w-glib-2.56.3-bin/bin:/home/sirgazil/.guix-profile/bin:/home/sirgazil/.guix-profile/sbin:/run/setuid-programs:/home/sirgazil/.config/guix/current/bin:/home/sirgazil/.guix-profile/bin:/home/sirgazil/.guix-profile/sbin:/run/current-system/profile/bin:/run/current-system/profile/sbin 
 >  
 > My first thought was "Why isn't /bin in your PATH?", but actually I see 
 > that /bin isn't in my PATH either, but that doesn't matter because 
 > 'bash' is installed in my system profile, which means that I have 'sh' 
 > in /run/current-system/profile/bin. 
 >  
 > You should too, but apparently you don't. 
 >  
 > 'bash' is included in %base-packages, which should normally be included 
 > in your 'packages' field of your OS config.  It should look something 
 > like this: 
 >  
 >  ;; This is where we specify system-wide packages. 
 >  (packages (append (list 
 >  ;; your added 
 >  ;; packages here 
 >  ) 
 >  %base-packages)) 
 >  
 > If you don't include %base-packages in your system profile, you are 
 > likely to run into problems.  Several of the packages in there could be 
 > safely deleted, but some of them, including 'sh', are widely assumed to 
 > always be in PATH. 


Oh, yes. The system configuration generated by the Guix 1.0 installer did not include %base-packages. The bug has been reported (https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=35541).

My packages form looks like this:

    (packages
        (list (specification->package "nss-certs")))

The Guix manual has been updated with instructions to work around the problem (https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/guix.html#Preparing-for-Installation). So one should add:

    (packages
         (append (list (specification->package "nss-certs"))
                          %base-packages))

and then:

    guix pull && sudo guix system reconfigure /etc/config.scm


This may fix some of the bugs I've reported (and the ones I haven't).

 
 > If you want to remove a few programs from %base-packages, I recommend 
 > doing something like this: 
 >  
 >  ;; This is where we specify system-wide packages. 
 >  (packages (append (list 
 >  ;; your added 
 >  ;; packages here 
 >  ) 
 >  (fold delete %base-packages (list sudo nano)))) 
 >  
 > Note that 'fold' is in (srfi srfi-1), so you'll need to import it in 
 > your OS config file if you use it. 


Good to know. I'll go with the whole set, though.


Thanks, Mark.

bug#35590: Emacs info can't open info manuals

[sirgazil]

This issue was related to a bug with the installer where "%base-packages" was not added to the system configuration file.¹ After working around the installer issue as described in the manual,² I can read manuals normally.


1. https://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=35541
2. https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Guided-Graphical-Installation.html#Guided-Graphical-Installation


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