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[72.10.136.58]) by smtp.gmail.com with ESMTPSA id g7sm2675257qkc.104.2022.01.25.15.14.20 (version=TLS1_3 cipher=TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 bits=256/256); Tue, 25 Jan 2022 15:14:20 -0800 (PST) From: Maxim Cournoyer To: Liliana Marie Prikler Subject: Re: Guix should not set global variables that may affect host References: <87zgnk4vs2.fsf@gmail.com> Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2022 18:14:19 -0500 In-Reply-To: (Liliana Marie Prikler's message of "Tue, 25 Jan 2022 08:21:59 +0100") Message-ID: <87a6fj4ddg.fsf@gmail.com> User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/27.2 (gnu/linux) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Spam-Score: 0.0 (/) X-Debbugs-Envelope-To: 53514 Cc: 53514@debbugs.gnu.org X-BeenThere: debbugs-submit@debbugs.gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.18 Precedence: list List-Id: List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: debbugs-submit-bounces@debbugs.gnu.org Sender: "Debbugs-submit" X-Spam-Score: -1.0 (-) Hi Liliana, Liliana Marie Prikler writes: > Hi, > > Am Montag, dem 24.01.2022 um 17:24 -0500 schrieb Maxim Cournoyer: >> Hello! >>=20 >> There are multiple reports about the negative effects of Guix setting >> variables such as XDG_DATA_DIRS on foreign distributions, that may >> cause problems a severe as locking users out of their graphical >> session [0]. >>=20 >> In my opinion, we should pursue patching every application/library to >> use a Guix-specific variant, e.g. GUIX_XDG_DATA_DIRS instead of >> XDG_DATA_DIRS, to avoid interfering with the host system, as was done >> for GUIX_PYTHONPATH. >>=20 >> This is a big task in itself; we can open more focused/actionable >> tasks for each environment variable, starting with those causing the >> most serious issues. >>=20 >> Any takers? > I'm not convinced that patching XDG_DATA_DIRS is a good solution here. > Even if we go forward and implement this for each and every > library/application, (it would be reasonably simple to do so for glib > and qt at least, but there's many more consumers, including Guix > itself), we'd just force users on foreign distros to set up their > XDG_DATA_DIRS for us if they e.g. want to have desktop icons available, > so they'd quickly encounter the same issue on their own. They may end up doing so, but at least they wouldn't be locked out of their graphical session just for installing a package from Guix, which is a clear improvement over the current situation. > I see two ways forward for this: First,=C2=A0"ignore it" and just docume= nt > the behaviour. This isn't just a bug Guix is suffering from, it also > affects other third-party package installers like Flatpak and Snap. > > Since distros increasingly become aware of them, this will soon no > longer be an issue for most our users. Second, extend search-paths > with a way of enforcing a default value when none is set. This way, > Guix will still override XDG_DATA_DIRS, but since > $HOME/.local/share:/usr/share is set as the default as per spec, it > will do what the distro expected. That sounds good to, and should be easier to achieve. Thanks, Maxim