What is the standard way to install a package so that all users may use the package?

What is the standard way to install a package so that all users may use the package?

[Jay Sulzberger]

First, congratulations! and thanks for Guix!

I run mostly Debian and Debian derived systems.  One week ago I
installed Guix OS on a Thinkpad laptop.  The install was smooth.
Then I, as root, installed Emacs.  Of course, my regular non-root
user "jays", saw no Emacs.  I then, by some command of
symlinking, got Emacs visible to jays, indeed, the same
executable of Emacs is now used by both root and jays.

What is the standard way to install a Guix package so that all
users on a single hardware box, can use the package?  That is,
I'd like an install procedure so that by means of the procedure,
installation of a package is like, from one angle of view, just
using apt on a Debian system.

Again, thank you for Guix!

oo--JS.

Re: What is the standard way to install a package so that all users may use the package?

[Vagrant Cascadian]

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On 2020-03-16, Jay Sulzberger wrote:
> I run mostly Debian and Debian derived systems.  One week ago I
> installed Guix OS on a Thinkpad laptop.  The install was smooth.
> Then I, as root, installed Emacs.  Of course, my regular non-root
> user "jays", saw no Emacs.  I then, by some command of
> symlinking, got Emacs visible to jays, indeed, the same
> executable of Emacs is now used by both root and jays.
>
> What is the standard way to install a Guix package so that all
> users on a single hardware box, can use the package?  That is,
> I'd like an install procedure so that by means of the procedure,
> installation of a package is like, from one angle of view, just
> using apt on a Debian system.

You would install it as part of the system configuration
(e.g. config.scm) and then run:

  guix system reconfigure /path/to/config.scm

Recent versions of guix system will include the previously used
config.scm and you can use that as a file to tweak:

  guix system list-generations

  Generation 12   Mar 15 2020 16:45:17    (current)
    file name: /var/guix/profiles/system-12-link
    ...
    configuration file: /gnu/store/...-configuration.scm

  cp /gnu/store/...-configuration.scm ~/config.scm

Edit that file to include the listed packages you want available for all
users and off you go.

Also a good idea to maintain this file in revision control, so you can
keep track of changes over time.


That said, each individual user being able to select their own software
is one of the great features of guix, though it takes a bit getting used
to the different workflow. It's generally recommended to keep the system
configuration small; to each their own, though. :)


live well,
  vagrant

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Re: What is the standard way to install a package so that all users may use the package?

[Jay Sulzberger]

On Mon, 16 Mar 2020, Vagrant Cascadian <vagrant@debian.org> wrote:

> On 2020-03-16, Jay Sulzberger wrote:
>> I run mostly Debian and Debian derived systems.  One week ago I
>> installed Guix OS on a Thinkpad laptop.  The install was smooth.
>> Then I, as root, installed Emacs.  Of course, my regular non-root
>> user "jays", saw no Emacs.  I then, by some command of
>> symlinking, got Emacs visible to jays, indeed, the same
>> executable of Emacs is now used by both root and jays.
>>
>> What is the standard way to install a Guix package so that all
>> users on a single hardware box, can use the package?  That is,
>> I'd like an install procedure so that by means of the procedure,
>> installation of a package is like, from one angle of view, just
>> using apt on a Debian system.
>
> You would install it as part of the system configuration
> (e.g. config.scm) and then run:
>
>  guix system reconfigure /path/to/config.scm
>
> Recent versions of guix system will include the previously used
> config.scm and you can use that as a file to tweak:
>
>  guix system list-generations
>
>  Generation 12   Mar 15 2020 16:45:17    (current)
>    file name: /var/guix/profiles/system-12-link
>    ...
>    configuration file: /gnu/store/...-configuration.scm
>
>  cp /gnu/store/...-configuration.scm ~/config.scm
>
> Edit that file to include the listed packages you want available for all
> users and off you go.
>
> Also a good idea to maintain this file in revision control, so you can
> keep track of changes over time.

Ah, thanks, Vagrant Cascadian!  As I said to Adam Kandur, I just
idiotically missed the sub-section "Globally-Visible Packages" in
the section

   https://guix.gnu.org/manual/en/html_node/Using-the-Configuration-System.html

of the Guix manual.

>
>
> That said, each individual user being able to select their own software
> is one of the great features of guix, though it takes a bit getting used
> to the different workflow. It's generally recommended to keep the system
> configuration small; to each their own, though. :)
>
>
> live well,
>  vagrant

Yes, I know that being able to have different environments, with
tools to conveniently manage environments, is one big objective
of the Guix Project.  AND I TOO AM A BELIEVER!  But, of course, I
am incompetent at ed^Wvi^Wnano, so I always install Emacs first
when I set up a new machine.  (Thus for me Knoppix is the best
"Live Distribution" out of the box, because it comes with Emacs
already up and running.  Recovery is Possible GNU/Linux was once
a favorite of mine, but on new machines, it often does not boot.)

oo--JS.