Subject: many packages become nonfunctional if not install in fixed profile like ~/.guix-profile

From: Shyam Saran <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 13 May 2021 19:56:11 +0530

many packages become nonfunctional if not install in fixed profiles (e.g.
~/.guix-profile)

These are two instances

1. blueman
2. font-conf so most of font like font-lohit will not be available

I had noticed that fixed profiles have become part of many
packages/services definition
which could be the reason that many of these packages/services become
dependent on
these fixed profiles.

It can be checked with

$ ag   --scheme  '.guix-profile'
$ grep -r '.guix-profile'

in code

Also

We provides necessary services through putting environment variables in
each profiles

PROFILE_PATH/etc/profile

  like for pidgin/purple
  PURPLE_PLUGIN_PATH

  for libraries
  LIBRARY_PATH

As suggestion

We could first provide augment all variables with guix specific prefix e.g.
GUIX_PEV_...
(PVS profile environment variables.)

So these all variables will become

  GUIX_PEV_PURPLE_PLUGIN_PATH
  GUIX_PEV_LIBRARY_PATH

then we could or could not (left to user) to set them
  PURPLE_PLUGIN_PATH=$GUIX_PEV_PURPLE_PLUGIN_PATH
  LIBRARY_PATH=$GUIX_PEV_LIBRARY_PATH

So with prefixed env vars, in first look one will know it is coming from
guix related profiles.
maybe it will also help in removing dependencies on fixed profiles.

/syam