Subject: Re: [bug#54393] [PATCH 0/2] Add 'guix manifest' to "translate" commands to manifests

From: zimoun <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2022 10:00:55 +0100

Hi Ludo,

On Mon, 14 Mar 2022 at 22:53, Ludovic Courtès <[email-masked]> wrote:

>   $ guix shell a b c d --transform=whatever=else
>   [env]$ guix package --export-manifest -p $GUIX_ENVIRONMENT
>
> I figured that instead of documenting this, we might as well provide
> a command that does it in one go:
>
>   guix manifest a b c d --transform=whatever=else > manifest.scm

>From my opinion, a complete subcommand for only one use case does not
seem the right thing.  Instead, IMHO, it would be better to have an
extension for that.

Because once we introduce a subcommand, it is hard to change (see
'guix environment') and since Guix provides this great extension
mechanism, I think it is the path for this kind of niche use cases:
start with an extension and depending on the "popularity" and interest
then upstream.

Well, if you think this feature is great to have in Guix proper,
personally I would find more coherent:

    guix package --create-manifest a b c --transform=whatever=else >
manifest.scm

Cheers,
simon