Newbie: Why using "guix edit" opens read-only files in /gnu/store?

Newbie: Why using "guix edit" opens read-only files in /gnu/store?

[Rodrigo Morales]

From what I understand, no file in `/gnu/store' can be edited by any
user. My question is: Isn't the purpose of `guix edit' edit package
definitions? Then, why when `guix edit <<package>>' is executed, a file
under /gnu/store is shown? For the record, I just executed `guix edit
emacs' and the file
/gnu/store/nxy09dxmm23krdgszgww2v80v8bkcll5-guix-module-union/share/guile/site/3.0/gnu/packages/emacs.scm
was opened.

How am I supposed to edit the package definition if it is defined in a
file under `/gnu/store' (read-only file system)?

I might have skipped an important part when reading the documentation. If
so, please point me to that part.

Re: Newbie: Why using "guix edit" opens read-only files in /gnu/store?

[Vagrant Cascadian]

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On 2023-06-25, Rodrigo Morales wrote:
> From what I understand, no file in `/gnu/store' can be edited by any
> user. My question is: Isn't the purpose of `guix edit' edit package
> definitions? Then, why when `guix edit <<package>>' is executed, a file
> under /gnu/store is shown? For the record, I just executed `guix edit
> emacs' and the file
> /gnu/store/nxy09dxmm23krdgszgww2v80v8bkcll5-guix-module-union/share/guile/site/3.0/gnu/packages/emacs.scm
> was opened.

It is certainly confusing, and has come a few times. It would be more
ideal to copy that file somewhere where it can be edited than trying to
edit the file in the store directly.

It is still useful when building from git, as described in:

  https://guix.gnu.org/en/manual/devel/en/guix.html#Building-from-Git

Then this should work more-or-less as one might expect:

  ./pre-inst-env guix edit PACKAGE


live well,
  vagrant

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