Re: Extending Guix without using the Guile load path

[Julien Lepiller]

Le 17 mars 2020 14:32:59 GMT-04:00, Joshua Branson <address@hidden> a écrit :
>Ludovic Courtès <address@hidden> writes:
>
>>
>> (Though eventually, I do think something like Guix Home should be
>part
>> of Guix itself.  :-))
>
>May I ask is Guix Home similar to systemd homed?  Or do they have
>slightly different objectives?

From what I understand, homed makes your home an archive (a single file that is 
transparently mounted) that can be used on different machines. I'm not sure 
what this is trying to address, but it sounds very much like using a mutable 
container in terms of benefits.

The home manager doesn't take care of any data in your home, only your 
configuration. In fact, you need a separate directory for your data so the home 
manager can take over your home. It's the guix way of creating your home 
configuration. It makes it portable too, since a single file is required to 
reproduce the same home environment (excluding your data). In a way, this is 
similar to how guix is a solution to containers' drawbacks :)

However, just like guix can produce docker containers, in theory I think 
building a homed archive is perfectly possible. Both approaches are not 
incompatible.

Even though it's technically nice and intellectually satisfiying, it is still 
very alpha and limited. Don't expect much of it in practice!