From: Zachary Kanfer <zkanfer@gmail.com>
To: Catonano <catonano@gmail.com>
Cc: help-guix@gnu.org
Subject: Re: Is there a beginner's guide to using Guix with Scheme files?
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2016 00:06:30 -0400 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <CAFXT+RNKa64BoTihJ6EVxgFr1hA1X6x2_qAusmYZHyfJ=wwiwg@mail.gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <CAJ98PDyJXjDs=W8fsr6Pffb4BvVB8OMKqa15ec9-0hPX0fR-yw@mail.gmail.com>
[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 4663 bytes --]
Thanks for the response. I think one of the things I was confused about was
that yes, the "average" user doesn't have to create packages, but can just
make manifests. There isn't much discussion of manifests in the
documentation, and I just missed it.
But manifests are required for me to use Guix. If my best option is running
`guix package -i emacs`, that's no advantage for me over `apt-get install
emacs`. Your mileage may differ; this is my opinion. I'm similarly not
installing GuixSD right now, but am using it on top of Ubuntu.
On Sun, Apr 17, 2016 at 9:52 AM, Catonano <catonano@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> 2016-04-17 6:15 GMT+02:00 Zachary Kanfer <zkanfer@gmail.com>:
>
>> I recently installed Guix, and I must admit I'm feeling somewhat lost. My
>> goal is to not run `guix package -i` manually, but have a scheme file with
>> my entire system configuration in it, and run `guix package -f
>> /path/to/that/file` to install the programs I want on my computer.
>>
>
>
> Running "guiy package -i ..."
>
> is for the binary installation. That is when you install guix as a package
> in a previously existing hosting system
>
> Otherwise, you can install GuixSD and it offers exaclty what Gyou want.
>
> You can have a scheme file specifying the disk layout, the users, the
> services and so on and that's what will be installed
>
> You probably want to start from these instructions to have it installed
> https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/html_node/System-Installation.html
>
> Then, when you wiill want to arrange a scheme file with the list of
> packages to be installed, you can come back here ;-)
>
>>
>>
>> I think what I want to start with is here (
>> http://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/guix.html#Programming-Interface),
>> but I'm not sure. Looking at it is somewhat confusing, for a few reasons.
>> I'm going to list what I see when reading this in hopes that the
>> documentation can be improved.
>>
>> 1. It starts by discussing how to "define new packages". I would expect
>> that I would only want to *use* packages, and that this would be done by
>> the person adding the package to the software repository.
>>
>
> Not necessarily. Arranging the build of a package can be demanding. Way
> more demanding that just using the package. So it's not settled that the
> person using the package will be the one who has prepared it for the
> distribution
>
> The user most commonly will install packages provided by others.
> Volunteers, mainly
>
>
>>
>> 2. The example given looks like a very complicated way of installing a
>> simple package.
>>
>
> That's exactly what I wrote. Those instructions are not aimed to casual
> users wanting to USE a package. They are meant for the volunteers who
> arrange the build of a package, so making it available to ALL the users of
> the distribution
>
>
>> There are many properties I don't care about when I'm installing software
>> (homepage, synopsis /and/ description), and things I don't want to care
>> about (arguments, inputs, build-system). To install a package on the
>> command line, it's something simple like "apt-get install emacs". To use
>> Guix, I have to write a 20-line program with a bunch of settings?
>>
>
> No ;-)
>
> You just "guix package -i emacs" both on GuixSD AND on the binary
> installation
>
> Properties and inputs are needed for building packages, not for using them
> (not that knowing abiut those in detrimental, though)
>
> Anyway, if your model is
>
> "apt-get install emacs"
>
> I don't see why
>
> "guix package -i emacs"
>
> is so unsatisfying to you. They are not dramatically different
>
>
>>
>> 3. It goes on to discuss importing other people's package definitions (
>> http://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/guix.html#Invoking-guix-import).
>> But it doesn't say how to do this in a Scheme file. I want my setup to be
>> in a Scheme file, not in a bunch of commands I have to manually run.
>>
>
> The instructions about how to import other people definitions, are exactly
> meant to edit a scheme file ;-)
>
> Only, that scheme file is not made to install a package. It's made to
> build it
>
>
>> 4. It discusses running `guix build` to use the package definitions. This
>> appears to be different than `guix package -i`, but I'm at a loss to say
>> how.
>>
>
> The first builds a package based on a definition written in scheme
>
> The second installs an already built package ;-)
>
>
>> Am I missing a useful page somewhere in the documentation? Do I have some
>> wrong assumptions about how Guix is used? Thanks for any help.
>>
>
> I don't know about the documentation. As for wrong assumptions I hope I
> have made things a bit clearer ;-)
>
[-- Attachment #2: Type: text/html, Size: 7576 bytes --]
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2016-04-18 4:06 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 6+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2016-04-17 4:15 Is there a beginner's guide to using Guix with Scheme files? Zachary Kanfer
2016-04-17 13:52 ` Catonano
2016-04-18 4:06 ` Zachary Kanfer [this message]
2016-04-17 15:13 ` Ludovic Courtès
2016-04-18 4:19 ` Zachary Kanfer
2016-04-18 7:17 ` Ricardo Wurmus
Reply instructions:
You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:
* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
and reply-to-all from there: mbox
Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style
* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
switches of git-send-email(1):
git send-email \
--in-reply-to='CAFXT+RNKa64BoTihJ6EVxgFr1hA1X6x2_qAusmYZHyfJ=wwiwg@mail.gmail.com' \
--to=zkanfer@gmail.com \
--cc=catonano@gmail.com \
--cc=help-guix@gnu.org \
/path/to/YOUR_REPLY
https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html
* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line
before the message body.
Code repositories for project(s) associated with this external index
https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/guix.git
This is an external index of several public inboxes,
see mirroring instructions on how to clone and mirror
all data and code used by this external index.