Hello, Ricardo Wurmus <rek...@elephly.net> skribis:
> Currently, GUIX_PACKAGE_PATH depends on some manual work to be done > first. Finding a third-party repository, downloading it, updating it > separately from Guix itself (it won’t get updated via “guix pull”), > setting the variable. > > When binary substitutes are involved some more steps are required: find > and download the public key of the distributor (who might be running > hydra or something like “guix publish”) and authorise it. > > Taken together it may seem a little too cumbersome compared to what > other package managers do. To enable a third-party repository for > Ubuntu, for example, I only need to run one command. When downloading > packages I may also need to verify and accept a GPG key. That’s a two-step process (or one-step if there are no binaries). Honestly, I don’t find it intimidating (definitely not a showstopper), but I agree it’s even better if it can be simplified. > Could it be enough if Guix offered a simpler way to fetch package > definitions and (optionally) binary substitutes from a third party who > maintains both the package definitions and (optionally) distributes > pre-built binary substitutes? > > Here are some concrete proposals: > > * Add a “guix config” command, which allows users to modify the > behaviour of their instance of Guix. > > * Support adding repositories via “guix config”. A “repository” is a > remote set of Guile modules and (optionally) an public endpoint of > “guix publish” through which substitutes of only those packages that > are defined in the repository’s modules can be downloaded. > > * The first time a repository is accessed, the specified modules are > cloned and stored in a per-user state directory > (“~/.cache/guix/<domain>” maybe?). Guix is automatically configured > to use the modules from “~/.cache/guix/<domain>” in addition to what > is on GUIX_PACKAGE_PATH. Additionally, the distribution public key > for binary substitutes is fetched from a well-known location (if > applicable) and users are asked to confirm. > > * When a user runs “guix pull” all enabled repositories are also > updated. Otherwise the cached copy from last access is used. > > * Update “guix --version” to also return the version of each configured > repository. > > * Add a command line switch “--vanilla” (or similar) to disable any > custom configuration and any configured repositories. I like the idea! (With the caveat that, again, external repos can break anytime.) Partly related to that: <http://debbugs.gnu.org/cgi/bugreport.cgi?bug=22629>. Ludo’.
