guix.texi

@subsection Fonts

For fonts that are in general not installed by a user for typesetting
purposes, or that are distributed as part of a larger software package,
we rely on the general packaging rules for software; for instance, this
applies to the fonts delivered as part of the X.Org system or fonts that
are part of TeX Live.

To make it easier for a user to search for fonts, names for other packages
containing only fonts are constructed as follows, independently of the
upstream package name.

The name of a package containing only one font family starts with
@code{font-}; it is followed by the foundry name and a dash @code{-}
if the foundry is known, and the font family name, in which spaces are
replaced by dashes (and as usual, all upper case letters are transformed
to lower case).
For example, the Gentium font family by SIL is packaged under the name
@code{font-sil-gentium}.

For a package containing several font families, the name of the collection
is used in the place of the font family name.
For instance, the Liberation fonts consist of three families,
Liberation Sans, Liberation Serif and Liberation Mono.
These could be packaged separately under the names
@code{font-liberation-sans} and so on; but as they are distributed together
under a common name, we prefer to package them together as
@code{font-liberation}.

In the case where several formats of the same font family or font collection
are packaged separately, a short form of the format, prepended by a dash,
is added to the package name.  We use @code{-ttf} for TrueType fonts,
@code{-otf} for OpenType fonts and @code{-type1} for PostScript Type 1
fonts.



@node Bootstrapping
@section Bootstrapping

@c Adapted from the ELS 2013 paper.

@cindex bootstrapping

Bootstrapping in our context refers to how the distribution gets built
``from nothing''.  Remember that the build environment of a derivation
contains nothing but its declared inputs (@pxref{Introduction}).  So
there's an obvious chicken-and-egg problem: how does the first package
get built?  How does the first compiler get compiled?  Note that this is
a question of interest only to the curious hacker, not to the regular
user, so you can shamelessly skip this section if you consider yourself
a ``regular user''.

@cindex bootstrap binaries
The GNU system is primarily made of C code, with libc at its core.  The
GNU build system itself assumes the availability of a Bourne shell and
command-line tools provided by GNU Coreutils, Awk, Findutils, `sed', and
`grep'.  Furthermore, build programs---programs that run
@code{./configure}, @code{make}, etc.---are written in Guile Scheme
(@pxref{Derivations}).  Consequently, to be able to build anything at
all, from scratch, Guix relies on pre-built binaries of Guile, GCC,
Binutils, libc, and the other packages mentioned above---the
@dfn{bootstrap binaries}.

These bootstrap binaries are ``taken for granted'', though we can also
re-create them if needed (more on that later).

@unnumberedsubsec Preparing to Use the Bootstrap Binaries

@c As of Emacs 24.3, Info-mode displays the image, but since it's a
@c large image, it's hard to scroll.  Oh well.
@image{images/bootstrap-graph,6in,,Dependency graph of the early bootstrap derivations}

The figure above shows the very beginning of the dependency graph of the
distribution, corresponding to the package definitions of the @code{(gnu
packages bootstrap)} module.  At this level of detail, things are
slightly complex.  First, Guile itself consists of an ELF executable,
along with many source and compiled Scheme files that are dynamically
loaded when it runs.  This gets stored in the @file{guile-2.0.7.tar.xz}
tarball shown in this graph.  This tarball is part of Guix's ``source''
distribution, and gets inserted into the store with @code{add-to-store}
(@pxref{The Store}).

But how do we write a derivation that unpacks this tarball and adds it
to the store?  To solve this problem, the @code{guile-bootstrap-2.0.drv}
derivation---the first one that gets built---uses @code{bash} as its
builder, which runs @code{build-bootstrap-guile.sh}, which in turn calls
@code{tar} to unpack the tarball.  Thus, @file{bash}, @file{tar},
@file{xz}, and @file{mkdir} are statically-linked binaries, also part of
the Guix source distribution, whose sole purpose is to allow the Guile
tarball to be unpacked.

Once @code{guile-bootstrap-2.0.drv} is built, we have a functioning
Guile that can be used to run subsequent build programs.  Its first task
is to download tarballs containing the other pre-built binaries---this
is what the @code{.tar.xz.drv} derivations do.  Guix modules such as
@code{ftp-client.scm} are used for this purpose.  The
@code{module-import.drv} derivations import those modules in a directory
in the store, using the original layout.  The
@code{module-import-compiled.drv} derivations compile those modules, and
write them in an output directory with the right layout.  This
corresponds to the @code{#:modules} argument of
@code{build-expression->derivation} (@pxref{Derivations}).

Finally, the various tarballs are unpacked by the
derivations @code{gcc-bootstrap-0.drv}, @code{glibc-bootstrap-0.drv},
etc., at which point we have a working C tool chain.


@unnumberedsubsec Building the Build Tools

@c TODO: Add a package-level dependency graph generated from (gnu
@c packages base).

Bootstrapping is complete when we have a full tool chain that does not
depend on the pre-built bootstrap tools discussed above.  This
no-dependency requirement is verified by checking whether the files of
the final tool chain contain references to the @file{/gnu/store}
directories of the bootstrap inputs.  The process that leads to this
``final'' tool chain is described by the package definitions found in
the @code{(gnu packages commencement)} module.

@c See <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/gnu-system-discuss/2012-10/msg00000.html>.
The first tool that gets built with the bootstrap binaries is
GNU Make, which is a prerequisite for all the following packages.
From there Findutils and Diffutils get built.

Then come the first-stage Binutils and GCC, built as pseudo cross
tools---i.e., with @code{--target} equal to @code{--host}.  They are
used to build libc.  Thanks to this cross-build trick, this libc is
guaranteed not to hold any reference to the initial tool chain.

From there the final Binutils and GCC are built.  GCC uses @code{ld}
from the final Binutils, and links programs against the just-built libc.
This tool chain is used to build the other packages used by Guix and by
the GNU Build System: Guile, Bash, Coreutils, etc.

And voilà!  At this point we have the complete set of build tools that
the GNU Build System expects.  These are in the @code{%final-inputs}
variable of the @code{(gnu packages commencement)} module, and are
implicitly used by any package that uses @code{gnu-build-system}
(@pxref{Build Systems, @code{gnu-build-system}}).


@unnumberedsubsec Building the Bootstrap Binaries

Because the final tool chain does not depend on the bootstrap binaries,
those rarely need to be updated.  Nevertheless, it is useful to have an
automated way to produce them, should an update occur, and this is what
the @code{(gnu packages make-bootstrap)} module provides.

The following command builds the tarballs containing the bootstrap
binaries (Guile, Binutils, GCC, libc, and a tarball containing a mixture
of Coreutils and other basic command-line tools):

@example
guix build bootstrap-tarballs
@end example

The generated tarballs are those that should be referred to in the
@code{(gnu packages bootstrap)} module mentioned at the beginning of
this section.

Still here?  Then perhaps by now you've started to wonder: when do we
reach a fixed point?  That is an interesting question!  The answer is
unknown, but if you would like to investigate further (and have
significant computational and storage resources to do so), then let us
know.

@node Porting
@section Porting to a New Platform

As discussed above, the GNU distribution is self-contained, and
self-containment is achieved by relying on pre-built ``bootstrap
binaries'' (@pxref{Bootstrapping}).  These binaries are specific to an
operating system kernel, CPU architecture, and application binary
interface (ABI).  Thus, to port the distribution to a platform that is
not yet supported, one must build those bootstrap binaries, and update
the @code{(gnu packages bootstrap)} module to use them on that platform.

Fortunately, Guix can @emph{cross compile} those bootstrap binaries.
When everything goes well, and assuming the GNU tool chain supports the
target platform, this can be as simple as running a command like this
one:

@example
guix build --target=armv5tel-linux-gnueabi bootstrap-tarballs
@end example

For this to work, the @code{glibc-dynamic-linker} procedure in
@code{(gnu packages bootstrap)} must be augmented to return the right
file name for libc's dynamic linker on that platform; likewise,
@code{system->linux-architecture} in @code{(gnu packages linux)} must be
taught about the new platform.

Once these are built, the @code{(gnu packages bootstrap)} module needs
to be updated to refer to these binaries on the target platform.  That
is, the hashes and URLs of the bootstrap tarballs for the new platform
must be added alongside those of the currently supported platforms.  The
bootstrap Guile tarball is treated specially: it is expected to be
available locally, and @file{gnu-system.am} has rules do download it for
the supported architectures; a rule for the new platform must be added
as well.

In practice, there may be some complications.  First, it may be that the
extended GNU triplet that specifies an ABI (like the @code{eabi} suffix
above) is not recognized by all the GNU tools.  Typically, glibc
recognizes some of these, whereas GCC uses an extra @code{--with-abi}
configure flag (see @code{gcc.scm} for examples of how to handle this).
Second, some of the required packages could fail to build for that
platform.  Lastly, the generated binaries could be broken for some
reason.

@c *********************************************************************
@include contributing.texi

@c *********************************************************************
@node Acknowledgments
@chapter Acknowledgments

Guix is based on the Nix package manager, which was designed and
implemented by Eelco Dolstra, with contributions from other people (see
the @file{nix/AUTHORS} file in Guix.)  Nix pioneered functional package
management, and promoted unprecedented features, such as transactional
package upgrades and rollbacks, per-user profiles, and referentially
transparent build processes.  Without this work, Guix would not exist.

The Nix-based software distributions, Nixpkgs and NixOS, have also been
an inspiration for Guix.

GNU@tie{}Guix itself is a collective work with contributions from a
number of people.  See the @file{AUTHORS} file in Guix for more
information on these fine people.  The @file{THANKS} file lists people
who have helped by reporting bugs, taking care of the infrastructure,
providing artwork and themes, making suggestions, and more---thank you!


@c *********************************************************************
@node GNU Free Documentation License
@appendix GNU Free Documentation License

@include fdl-1.3.texi

@c *********************************************************************
@node Concept Index
@unnumbered Concept Index
@printindex cp

@node Programming Index
@unnumbered Programming Index
@syncodeindex tp fn
@syncodeindex vr fn
@printindex fn

@bye

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