Hi,
On Tue, 15 Mar 2022 at 09:19:50 +0100, Ludovic Courtès <l...@gnu.org> wrote:
> > One could develop a `guix contribute <package>` subcommand or standalone
> > script that would implement the following workflow:
> >
> > 1. Obtain the source and unpack it into a writable working directory,
> > skipping downstream patches and snippets.
> > 2. Drop the user into a shell with the build and test inputs present.
> > Perhaps with the scripts $PWD/.guix/test and $PWD/.guix/build added
> > to run the build and test actions as needed.
> > 3. After the user has made changes, and maybe signalled completion
> > somehow, run the tests and build all outputs.
> > 4. Once the user exits, output a diff that's suitable for git send-email.
>
> I like that idea, that’d be a great tool to have! And indeed, we have
> all the building blocks.
While I agree the idea looks nice, the point #1 does not appear to me
straightforward.
a) The point #1 «skipping downstream patches and snippets» means that
the user would access to upstream source as is. Therefore, I would like
to point the endless discussion about “guix build --source”. Because
allowing to obtain the source skipping downstream patches and snippets
would be in contradiction with the rationale behind “guix build -S”,
IIUC.
Personally, I am in favor to have an option to be able to access to the
true upstream source – I have an half-baked script for that :-) – and
not the Guix-modified one – always for good reasons hardly justified.
Reading the lengthy backlog on this very topic, the main argument
against this option (implied by #1) is the poor written FSDG; leading to
various interpretations of the ’spirit’. All arguments are valid. :-)
My point is, yes we have all the building blocks but, from my
understanding, we disagree about the way – how the end-user would access
to them.
b) Aside this potentially controversial point about «skipping downstream
patches and snippets», a nice workflow could be:
i. Fetch the source that Guix builds and put it in a writable
directory.
ii. Extract the current Guix recipe and put it in guix.scm pointing to
this working directory.
iii. “guix build -f guix.scm“ or jump to a development environment
cooked by ‘guix shell’ using this guix.scm
Well, iii) is already done – modulo corner cases, i) is almost ready –
missing glue for moving from the store to a writable directory; maybe a
addition to ‘guix build’
The missing, but not that hard I guess, is ii); maybe an addition to
‘guix edit’ as ‘guix edit --extract’.
The workflow would read:
guix build --writable-source=/tmp/foo foo
cd /tmp/foo
guix edit --extract > guix.scm
guix shell -Df guix.scm editor git:send-email
editor bar baz
git send-email
Personally, I would prefer to do it re-using existing subcommands than
only one doing all in one go.
Cheers,
simon
