Re: Ensuring we don't break user systems

[Dan Partelly]

No I did not shown or proofed this affirmation. I believe it is sensible.  It 
is a undeniable reality of software development  that bugs are introduced 
during development. Having the update to the package manager (which in GuixSD 
is very central to the distro itself) 
result in a broken system "even if you can roll back” is a very bad thing. It 
is my opinion that the current model is both technically bad (exposing users to 
broken software , security bugs and so on) and socially bad ( having the 
package manager crap on itself due to bugs introduced in the development cycle 
may prompt a lot of people to look in to an alternative and creates bad 
publicity. It also results in end users wasting time, and time is the most 
precious comodity we have. I do not want the OS I use to waste my time. I want 
to install the software I need and work with and go on with my life and work  
). Ironically, the problem is easily solved . DO not expose people to your 
devel branch where they will get first contact wiith guix bugs and guile bugs. 
The situation with GuixSD is somehow complicated by the fact that the package 
metadata is compiled as code, but yeah, a stable branch which is proven to be 
compilable and preferably regression tested is the first step IMO towards a 
better future with GuixSD. Treat is as a product which offers a rock solid 
platform for the users.

And yes, in between 0.14 / 0.15 GuixSD was broken by guix pull a  lot. That is 
a fact, unfortunately. 
> Dan Partelly <address@hidden> writes:
> 
>> I pointed this out 4-5 weeks ago when trying GuixSD, on this very list. 
>> Thanks for reaffirming  the idea In all honesty the current model is very 
>> badly broken, and you should not wait for 1.0. I had no other Linux distro 
>> break up faster than GuixSD. A stable branch is not enough by itself,  (but 
>> is the mort important part) you need to ensure that all substitutes are 
>> built correctly, and atomically update all substitutes following a 
>> successful build of all packages.
>> 
>> You should not inflict  current model on your users , not  even for an 0.1
> 
> While this might apply to some software. I don't believe, and I don't
> think you've shown that this reasoning is appropriate or useful to apply
> to Guix.
> 
> Saying that something doesn't work for you is fine, and can be helpful,
> but such a unevidenced extreme view is unhelpful.