Re: Using --manfistest with <profile>/manifest files

[zimoun]

Dear,

On Mon, 15 Jun 2020 at 22:51, George Clemmer <myglc2@gmail.com> wrote:

> ISTM we set ourselves up for confused users and a lot of explaining by
> labeling two very different things with same name :-0

I think there is a confusion here.  The file <profile>/manifest is an
internal detail implementation and the user should *not* be exposed to.

Well, there are a lot of internal files that the user is not aware.  And
sometimes, the names are more or less well-chosen.  But hey! it is
internal and naming is hard. :-)


> Yes, only 'manifest.scm' is in the doc, but '.guix-profile/manifest'
> smacks a user in the face pretty quickly which leads to these messy
> questions.

I am not convinced by "smacks in the face pretty quickly".  But I agree
that questions about this topic regularly come.  For example, to pick an
old one:

https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guix-devel/2018-10/msg00011.htlm


> IMO we could dramatically simplify the situation, and simplify our
> lives, by simply renaming the .guix-profile/manifest file ;-)

In contradiction with what I wrote above, I agree. :-)

<profile>/manifest should be renamed <profile>/specifications or
something like that.

And a comment could be inserted in this file saying: internal usage, do
not modify, etc..

WDYT?


All the best,
simon