Subject: bug#35541: Installer does not add %base-packages

From: Ludovic Courtès <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 04 May 2019 14:40:30 +0200

Hello,

Ludovic Courtès <[email-masked]> skribis:

> I think we should email [email-masked] and possibly write a post on
> the blog within at most two days with an explanation of the issue,
> workarounds, proper fix (which is to edit the config file and
> reconfigure), and an ETA for the bug-fix release.

Unless there are objections, I will apply the patch below to the manual
in the ‘version-1.0.0’ branch and update the on-line copies of the
manual.  That way the issue and workaround should be immediately visible
to someone who follows the “Installation instructions” link on the
download page.  (This text won’t be translated, but we’ll have to live
with it I guess.)

I’ll also send roughly the same text to info-guix.

Please tell me what you think!

I think we can publish a release in two to four weeks.  It should be an
easier one anyway.  We should take advantage of that time to gather
installation bug reports and to address them, and also to see how we can
automate the release process further.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Ludo’.

diff --git a/doc/guix.texi b/doc/guix.texi
index 3b0517c5e3..2f1caf4659 100644
--- a/doc/guix.texi
+++ b/doc/guix.texi
@@ -1774,6 +1774,11 @@ on a machine.  Guix, as a package manager, can
 also be installed on top of a running GNU/Linux system,
 @pxref{Installation}.
 
+@quotation Important Note
+@xref{Guided Graphical Installation}, on how to work around a bug that affects
+the graphical installer in version 1.0.0.
+@end quotation
+
 @ifinfo
 @quotation Note
 @c This paragraph is for people reading this from tty2 of the
@@ -1992,6 +1997,56 @@ dependencies of your system configuration can be downloaded.  See the
 The graphical installer is a text-based user interface.  It will guide you,
 with dialog boxes, through the steps needed to install GNU@tie{}Guix System.
 
+@quotation Important Note
+Due to a @uref{https://issues.guix.info/issue/35541, bug}, the graphical
+installer of Guix 1.0.0 may produce a system configuration where essential
+commands such as @command{ls} or @command{grep} are missing.  A new release
+will be published in the coming weeks.  Here is how you can work around it in
+the meantime on your freshly installed system:
+
+@itemize
+@item
+Install packages that provide those commands, along with the text editor of
+your choice (for example, @code{emacs} or @code{vim}):
+
+@example
+guix install coreutils findutils grep procps sed emacs vim
+@end example
+
+At this point, the essential commands you would expect are available.
+
+@item
+Open your configuration file with your editor of choice, for example
+@command{emacs}, running as root:
+
+@example
+sudo emacs /etc/config.scm
+@end example
+
+@item
+Change the @code{packages} field to add the ``base packages'' to the list of
+globally-installed packages, such that your configuration looks like this:
+
+@lisp
+(operating-system
+  ;; ... snip ...
+  (packages (append (list (specification->package "nss-certs"))
+                    %base-packages))
+  ;; ... snip ...
+  )
+@end lisp
+
+@item
+Reconfigure the system so that your new configuration is in effect:
+
+@example
+sudo guix system reconfigure /etc/config.scm
+@end example
+@end itemize
+
+We apologize for this embarrassing mistake that we made.
+@end quotation
+
 The first dialog boxes allow you to set up the system as you use it during the
 installation: you can choose the language, keyboard layout, and set up
 networking, which will be used during the installation.  The image below shows