Re: What is the difference between the directories in / and in /run/current-system/profile?

[Felix Lechner]

Hi Nathaniel,

On Sat, Apr 27 2024, Nathan Dehnel wrote:

> These directories are in both locations.

As you already figured out, they contain different things.

> What does it mean for a file to be in one place vs the other?

Files in /var and /etc hold some form of local system state, plus logs.

Files in your system profile's 'var' provide data that packages are
expected to deposit there.

For 'etc' it's basically the same, except for configuration files.  Many
of those are actually in the store by themselves---and that's really the
goal for Guix.

My /bin is empty, except for /bin/sh.  The profile's bin holds symbolic
links to all 'bin' files from packages in your current profile.  The
profile's 'bin' is how your shell finds programs.  (It should also look
in /run/setuid-programs.)

Ideally, / would be empty, except for /gnu/store and mount points for
/home and /root.  Some folks run / on a tmpfs and manage to get pretty
close.  One challenge is that we haven't figured out what to do with
secrets.  The store is public, so they can't go there.

Please don't despair.  Guix is totally different from other operating
systems, but it makes a great deal of sense once you get used to it.
That may involve a year of intense adjustment, or more.

Kind regards
Felix