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<jmd>Sometimes I find that guix build just sits for ages apparently doing nothing.

<jmd>Top indicates no significant CPU or IO usage

<jmd`>I don't understand why guix build sits for so long, apparently doing nothing. Is there some way to speed it up?

<sneek>Welcome back jmd`, you have 5 messages.

<sneek>jmd`, mark_weaver says: 'concatenate' in srfi-1 takes a list of lists and appends them, e.g. (concatenate '((a b c) (1 2 3) (x y z))) => (a b c 1 2 3 x y z)

<sneek>jmd`, mark_weaver says: if the string literals use the same syntax as Guile's string literals, and if the commas always immediately follow the close quotes, then you could do something as simple as this: http://paste.lisp.org/display/139018

<sneek>jmd`, mark_weaver says: if you want to implement a more general state machine to parse the string, then I'd still recommend 'with-input-from-string', and remember that state machines can be implemented very nicely in Scheme using a set of mutually-recursive procedures (one for each state) that tail-call each other.

<sneek>jmd`, mark_weaver says: here's an example of how to do a similar job using a state machine: http://paste.lisp.org/+2Z9M/1

<sneek>jmd`, mark_weaver says: note that the syntax recognized by that state machine is a bit different, but you could adapt to whatever syntax you want.

<civodul>jmd`: try --no-substitutes

<civodul>hydra.gnu.org is overloaded these days

<jmd`>Oh. I will try that.

<jmd`>civodul: That seems to be the problem thanks.

<jmd`>

<jmd`>Although I don't understand it, because in this case it shouldn't have needed any substitutes

<civodul>i've noticed in the past cases where it checks for substitutes even though it shouldn't

<civodul>could you file a bug for that?

<civodul>the thing was already built, right?

<jmd`>I think so. Yes.

<civodul>ok, so definitely a bug

<jmd`>Is there no --verbose flag or something to make it announce that it is checking for substitutes.

<civodul>not currently

<civodul>that's fixed in wip-http-pipelining

<civodul>however, that requires server-side caching

<civodul>and nobody has offered help on setting up Apache httpd and all that correctly

<civodul>yet :-)

<jmd`>I need to get the destdir of another package. How can I do that?

<jmd>I need to put the installdir of another package into #:configure-flags

<jmd>How can I do that?

<sirius>jmd: use %build-inputs. It's bound to a alist containing the paths to the inputs.

<jmd>sirius: I will try it. Thanks.

<jmd>sirius: gnu/packages/telephony.scm:162:64: In procedure arguments:

<jmd>gnu/packages/telephony.scm:162:64: In procedure module-lookup: Unbound variable: %build-inputs

<jmd>

<sirius>jmd: did you quote it the right way? For me this example works: (arguments '(#:configure-flags `(,(assoc-ref %build-inputs "gcc"))))

<jmd>sirius: You were right. I had quoted it wrong.

<jmd>I think that pkg-config is not working properly in cross-builds

*davexunit is comparing Guix with Vagrant

<davexunit>it seems to me that Guix can eat Vagrant's lunch with no problem.

<Steap>How can you compare Vagrant and Guix ?

<davexunit>looks like Vagrant is used mostly to generate VM images that contain a dev environment for a specific application.

<Steap>They're two really different pieces of software, if I'm nost mistaken

<Steap>not*

<jmd>Steap: (cmp Guix Vagrant)

<davexunit>Steap: they have at least some feature overlap

<davexunit>I'm trying to find out how much

<Steap>davexunit: I use it at work to quickly fire up a VM

<Steap>and not care about how it's configured

<davexunit>the docs I've read about vagrant so far have shown me nothing that guix can't do.

<jmd>I think there are a lot of principles which guix shares with aegis.

<davexunit>`guix system` can generate a new VM image with everything you need to develop something

<jmd>Although so far as I am aware the code is completely separate.

<Steap>davexunit: looks cool

<Steap>davexunit: Vagrant can also import a VM of another OS, such as Ubuntu or Fedora

<davexunit>sure, if you don't want to use GNU, vagrant would be what you want to use.

<jmd>Maybe Guix was made for Vagrant

<Steap>well, don't really have a choice at work :)

<davexunit>I'm approaching this from the perspective of wanting to run the GNU system.

<Steap>ok

<jmd>... it even has a homeless-shelter

<davexunit>Steap: yeah, my last job was a Ruby shop and I was stuck with OS X.

<jmd>What is the #:builder argument for?

<davexunit>for packages?

<Steap>davexunit: better than Windows :) At least you have a Unix shell

<davexunit>from what I can tell, builder is an argument to the trivial-build-system

<davexunit>Steap: now I use Trisquel at work :)

<Steap>davexunit: nice job you got there

<Steap>may I ask what you do for a living ?

<davexunit>Steap: web development for the FSF

<davexunit>(new employee)

<Steap>Working for the FSF, cool

<Steap>Web dev, not so cool :)

<davexunit>that's what I did at my last job, too.

<davexunit>seems to be all the jobs out there these days

<Steap>Sadly enough, yes.

<davexunit>I'm a bit worried about getting coralled into the "web dev" group for my entire career because it just so happens that my professional work has been in web dev.

<davexunit>I'm perfectly capable of programming all types of software :)

<davexunit>web dev just happens to be what pays right now.

<Steap>You could get another job and do something else, but working with the FSF is a big plus :)

<davexunit>yeah, I am happy to be working at the FSF.

<davexunit>though, since it's a charity I work for less than market salary.

<Steap>do they employ a lot of programmers ?

<davexunit>no.

<Steap>yes, you've got a really special job

<davexunit>we have ~12 employees, and right now only myself and our sysadmin are programmers.

<jmd>So now I know who to blame for the things that don't work!

<davexunit>only for some things!!! :P

<davexunit>dinner time. bbl

<jmd>civodul: Hey ludo.

<jmd>I think the logic in pkg-config.scm is wrong

<civodul>how so?

<civodul>is there any logic in there? :-)

<jmd>Well there is a hack which does this: ;; Create a `TARGET-pkg-config' -> `pkg-config' symlink.

<jmd> ;; This satisfies the pkg.m4 macros, which use

<jmd> ;; AC_PROG_TOOL to determine the `pkg-config' program

<jmd> ;; name.

<jmd> (symlink native (string-append bin "/" prog))))))

<jmd>

<civodul>yes, and so what?

<civodul>it's a Smart Hack™

<jmd>But it only does it for builds where the target is not native.

<jmd>It should be the other way araound.

<civodul>hm?

<civodul>oooh, i see

<jmd>Better still, it should not do it at all. Instead it should set the variable PKG_CONFIG to the point to the binary.

<civodul>actually no, i'm a bit lost

<civodul>do you have an example where it doesn't work as you'd expect?

<jmd>Well packages which use pkg-config have (native-inputs `(("pkg-config" ,pkg-config)))

<jmd>So, if I am cross building ...

<civodul>you're mistaken

<civodul>even if it's in 'native-inputs', %current-target-system points to the target

<civodul>so it does work as expected

<jmd>Now I'm lost...

<civodul>for instance we're able to cross-compile guile-2.0, tec.

<civodul>*etc.

<civodul>the thing is, %current-target-system is set whenever you're cross-compiling

<civodul>so when cross-compiling something that has pkg-config as an input or native-input, you automatically get the cross-pkg-config

<civodul>regardless of whether it's an input or a native-input

<civodul>however, if it's a native-input, the cross-pkg-config is not cross-compiled itself

<civodul>long story short: don't think about it, it works

<civodul>:-)

<jmd>Well I am cross compiling a package, and I have declared pkg-config as a native input, and am surprised to see that PATH contains /gnu/store/...-target/bin

<civodul>that's the intented outcome

<civodul>*intended, even

<jmd>and that contains a binary "TARGET-pkg-config"

<jmd>which is a native binary.

<civodul>yes, that's the goal of this hack

<civodul>what's wrong with that?

<jmd>But there is no "pkg-config" in PATH

<civodul>yes, and so, is one needed?

<jmd>Of course. ./configure fails because it cannot find pkg-config

<civodul>what package is that?

<jmd>One that I haven't submitted yet.

<civodul>(reminds me that gdb does it the wrong way)

<civodul>anyway, any package that uses pkg.m4 will just work

<civodul>however, if the package uses AC_PROG_PATH or similar, then that'll fail

<civodul>but for those packages, there's probably an ac_cv_ variable that can be set to work around the problem

<civodul>though it's painful

<jmd>it would be ok if we setenv "PKG_CONFIG" to the path of that binary.

<civodul>ok

<jmd>Ah you're right. This package has some nastyness in configure.ac

<davexunit>civodul: so I made an operating system definition and generated a VM image from it. when I update the OS definition, should I run `guix system init` or build a new VM image?

<civodul>davexunit: build a new VM image

<jmd>ERROR: In procedure memoize-variable-access!:

<jmd>ERROR: Unbound variable: %current-target-system

<jmd>

<jmd>Seems to work for other packages. Why doesn't it work for me?

<civodul>davexunit: from that image, you could run 'guix system reconfigure', which is how you'd update a running system

<civodul>jmd: (use-modules (guix packages))

<jmd>I have #:use-module (guix packages)

<jmd>

<civodul>then could you send more details?

<jmd>#:phases (alist-cons-before

<jmd> 'configure 'pre-conf

<jmd> (lambda* (#:key inputs outputs #:allow-other-keys)

<jmd> (let ((pkg-config (assoc-ref %build-inputs "pkg-config")))

<jmd> (setenv "PKG_CONFIG" (string-append pkg-config "/bin/" (%current-target-system) "-pkg-config"))))

<jmd> %standard-phases)

<civodul>jmd: that's because (%current-target-system) is a host-side variable, not a build-side variable

<davexunit>civodul: thanks!

<civodul>jmd: so you need to unquote here: ,(%current-target-system)

<civodul>but that's not so simple

<civodul>because it can be #f

<civodul>so you need to check that

<jmd>Right, thanks

*civodul prepares dmd 0.2

<davexunit>woo! interested in seeing what the big changes are.

<davexunit>I haven't yet dared to dig into the code.

<civodul>mostly small changes, but it fixes various annoyances

<civodul>davexunit: BTW, how far did you manage to go with the image on USB?

<davexunit>civodul: I got it to boot, but I don't have a spare machine to install to right now, so I'm blocked.

<davexunit>I'm thinking of asking the FSF if I can borrow an x60, but I don't know if it's possible.

<civodul>ok

<davexunit>I can't sacrifice from x220 right now.

<davexunit>and my desktop machine has a complicated setup with multiple operating systems that I'm afraid of screwing up.

<davexunit>sorry I can't test the install further, I *really* want to get it installed onsomething.

<civodul>np!

<civodul>it's always a bit tricky to go to the next step

<civodul>same for me ;-)

IRC channel logs

2014-07-07.log