Re: [Next browser] Common Lisp: mgl-pax: Package SWANK-BACKEND does not exist.

[Pierre Neidhardt]

Hey Andy!

Great to hear for you, it's a big relief to have someone around who is
knowledgeable on Common Lisp as I'm starting to feel a bit overwhelmed! :p

> As for the initial error - it looks like it's because swank's system
> definition file only compiles swank-loader, which I guess is because it
> wants to use that loader to load the rest of the system.  As a result
> the swank-backend package never gets added to the built swank package.

Absolutely, I had come to that conclusion as well.

There is also another upstream pull request that attempts to fix the same
problem, from a different angle:

        https://github.com/slime/slime/pull/83

I haven't tried it yet.

One thing I'd like to understand about Common Lisp packages in Guix, if you can
shed some light on this: the build system uses ASDF to "bundle compile" the
entire package into a single /gnu/store/…-PACKAGE/lib/PACKAGE--system.fasl
file.  This file is then referenced in /gnu/store…-PACKAGE/lib/PACKAGE.asd.
So when a Common Lisp package looks for its dependencies, it searches for a
PACKAGE.asd file in the LIBRARY_PATH environment variable.
Is this correct?

If so, what would be the steps to package a Common Lisp library without ASDF?
Is it possible to create a bundle without ASDF?  How are multiple .fasl files
loaded when put in a folder pointed by LIBRARY_PATH?  Do we absolutely need a
.asd file?

I have skimmed over the ASDF documentation but I am not sure I can find answers
there.

> The log listed in the report when using that PR doesn't show the full
> details - but I've just found out that some warnings are being treated
> as errors by sbcl.

Which log?  If it's one of mine, I can post the full backtrace.  As I'm not too
familiar (yet) with Common Lisp and SBCL, I might have missed important parts of
the backtrace.  Let me know.

Regarding your additions: Have a look at my wip-next-browser branch, in case
it's overlapping with your work.  I've borrowed one or two of the packages you
had sent earlier on this list.  I've also "fixed" one thing in the build system
(more of a quick & dirty workaround).

Cheers!

-- 
Pierre Neidhardt
https://ambrevar.xyz/

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