Hello,
I think a guile track proposal for FOSDEM is a great idea. The last 2
years I've put forward FOSDEM proposals, the first for a GNU track, the
second for a Guix track.
The first was declined as the FOSDEM organisers were worried that the
track might not be technical enough. The second proposal was declined
as a result of us proposing a track on a distribution, when there was a
general distributions track.
I think making the track a Guile track seems like a great approach to
avoid these issues.
I've attached last year's proposal — maybe it would help in formulating
this year's proposal. I'm also happy to contribute to the discussion in
terms of practical questions that I may be able to answer as a result of
my applications the previous years. By and large the process is quite
painless.
HTH!
Alex
* Devroom name.
GNU Guix — growing the GNU distribution.
* Devroom description:
GNU Guix is the foundation for the reference GNU distribution.
Guix is a functional package manager based on Nix, written in GNU
Guile. Development started just 2 years ago, and it has now reached
a critical juncture: hitherto it was a symbiotic package manager
installed alongside other package managers within distributions. Now
it's also becoming a distribution in its own right.
Goals of the distro (the niche in the "distro market"):
- transparent, transactional, per-user package-management
- declarative system configuration;
- extensibility from the ground up (where possible core distro
functionality is provided through Guile programs, a language
specifically designed to be hackable and extensible — for example,
at present the init system is provided by dmd, which is written in
Guile);
- secure: builds are performed in isolated environments to
facilitate reproducibility, and can be checked independently by
end-users;
- blurring of lines between developers, distribution maintainers and
end-users:
+ high level DSL for describing packages makes packaging easy to
understand for developers and end-users alike, reducing barriers
to distro maintenance contribution;
+ support for concurrent system configurations within different
'profiles' allows for on-the-fly system reconfigurations to help
bug-tracking and development.
The devroom will provide the following content:
- high level overview of & tutorial on the distribution;
- hacking sessions for packaging software, enhancing the
distribution (installer, package-management tools, user
interfaces);
- discussions & presentations of specific components:
+ Secure networking through gnunet:
* integration of the GNU Name Service (peer-to-peer, secure DNS
replacement);
* choice of defaults that help users remain in control (Linux
TCP stealth patch, GNUnet and Tor services, etc.)
+ Extending the init system: use Guile (DMD) or established systems?
+ Providing kernel hotswapping: supporting hurd development by
providing it as an alternative to linux-libre.
+ Extensibility from the ground up: grafting Guile into the heart
of a distro (e.g. GNU Posh, Guix, DMD).
- open discussions on the further development of Guix and the
distro.
The purpose of the room is to technically progress the distribution
through:
- demonstrations of its viability;
- debates around its technical composition;
- a space where hackers can contribute concrete chunks of code.
* Related URLs
- GNU Project: http://www.gnu.org
- GNU Guix: http://www.gnu.org/software/guix
* Devroom organisers
- Alex Sassmannshausen (alex.sassmannshau...@gmail.com):
co-ordinator and occasional contributor to Guix.
- Ludovic Courtès (l...@gnu.org): maintainer and core developer of
Guix.
Ludovic Courtès writes:
> Hello!
>
> (Resent with Alex Cc’d this time.)
>
> Pjotr Prins <pjotr.publi...@thebird.nl> skribis:
>
>> We should propose a Guile + Guix developers track for FOSDEM. They usually
>> have
>> Ruby/Perl/Python dev tracks, so Guile will fit right in. I am sure we can
>> generate enough interesting talks on aspects of Guix packaging, for one.
>>
>> Deadline for dev room proposals is half September.
>
> That’s a good idea. In the past, Alex Sassmannshausen (Cc’d) took care
> of submitting dev room proposals for GNU as a whole. Alex: What would
> you think of making a Guix or Guile+Guix (instead of GNU) dev room?
> Would you like to give a hand?
>
> If we fail to get a dev room, we can surely submit one or two talk
> proposals.
>
> Thanks,
> Ludo’.
