Subject: Re: bug#71816: Emacs as build tool fails to launch after update

From: Richard Sent <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2024 08:56:17 -0400

Hello Arne,

"Dr. Arne Babenhauserheide" via Bug reports for GNU Guix
<[email-masked]> writes:

> I currently work around it by switching back to generation 1287:
> guix package -S 1287
>
> But this means, that I can’t really update.
>
>
> How can I help track this down?

In between your two generations there was an upgrade in Emacs from 29.3
to 29.4. Unlike other upgrades this was done as a graft on
emacs-minimal, not a direct version bump.

I've noticed an uptick on IRC of other complaints about odd Emacs
breakages recently. In at least one case the problem was solved by
disabling grafts. Perhaps there is some odd graft related breakage going
on. (An Emacs bug introduced in 29.3->29.4 is unlikely to be the culprit
as the changelog alleges org-mode was the only change).

This is just a hunch however. I'm not sure of the best way to test this
since disabling grafts will also disable the 29.4 upgrade entirely, but
perhaps creating your profile with --no-grafts (including Emacs
packages) will help you narrow it down.

Do note that disabling grafts will remove many security fixes from the
profile. Best not to use it long term.

CC'ing a couple people involved in the 29.4 upgrade so they are aware of
my pet theory. I don't have a smoking gun. Like I said, it's just a
hunch. Thanks for your work! :)

-- 
Take it easy,
Richard Sent
Making my computer weirder one commit at a time.