Hi, I've grown so used to using "guix environment," I thought I'd try out "guix shell." It looks pretty neat! It's good to try to improve the CLI. However, when I tried "guix shell," I quickly observed this confusing behavior: --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8--- [130] marusich@suzaku:~/guix-master $ guix shell --container --check -D guix guix shell: checking the environment variables visible from shell '/bin/bash'... guix shell: warning: variable 'PKG_CONFIG_PATH' is missing from shell environment hint: One or more environment variables have a different value in the shell than the one we set. This means that you may find yourself running code in an environment different from the one you asked Guix to prepare. This usually indicates that your shell startup files are unexpectedly modifying those environment variables. For example, if you are using Bash, make sure that environment variables are set or modified in `~/.bash_profile' and _not_ in `~/.bashrc'. For more information on Bash startup files, run: info "(bash) Bash Startup Files" Alternatively, you can avoid the problem by passing the `--container' or `-C' option. That will give you a fully isolated environment running in a "container", immune to the issue described above. [1] marusich@suzaku:~/guix-master $ env | grep PKG_CONF [1] marusich@suzaku:~/guix-master $ guix shell --check -D guix guix shell: checking the environment variables visible from shell '/bin/bash'... guix shell: warning: variable 'PKG_CONFIG_PATH' is missing from shell environment hint: One or more environment variables have a different value in the shell than the one we set. This means that you may find yourself running code in an environment different from the one you asked Guix to prepare. This usually indicates that your shell startup files are unexpectedly modifying those environment variables. For example, if you are using Bash, make sure that environment variables are set or modified in `~/.bash_profile' and _not_ in `~/.bashrc'. For more information on Bash startup files, run: info "(bash) Bash Startup Files" Alternatively, you can avoid the problem by passing the `--container' or `-C' option. That will give you a fully isolated environment running in a "container", immune to the issue described above. [1] marusich@suzaku:~/guix-master $ guix shell -D guix [0] [env] marusich@suzaku:~/guix-master $ env | grep PKG PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/gnu/store/qr79b2m6cfdj8ar7g0psqg4hglm6djfm-profile/lib/pkgconfig [0] [env] marusich@suzaku:~/guix-master $ exit [0] marusich@suzaku:~/guix-master $ guix shell --container -D guix marusich@suzaku ~/guix-master [env]$ env | grep PKG PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/gnu/store/qr79b2m6cfdj8ar7g0psqg4hglm6djfm-profile/lib/pkgconfig marusich@suzaku ~/guix-master [env]$ --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8--- I found the following things to be confusing: (1) The error message claims that PKG_CONFIG_PATH is "missing from shell environment." However, it seems to be present when I run "env". (2) It says I can avoid the problem by passing the `--container' option, but even when I do that, the problem seems to persist. If that is expected behavior, then perhaps the wording should be changed to something less certain, such as "you might be able to avoid the problem". It does not seem to be the case that I can avoid the problem by passing the `--container' option in this case. What's really going on here? It's good to be able to look at this feature with the eyes of a newbie, since I'm very used to using "guix environment", but "guix shell" is totally new to me. I thought it would be a good opportunity to provide feedback. -- Chris PGP: https://savannah.gnu.org/people/viewgpg.php?user_id=106836