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

[Ludovic Courtès]

Hello,

Ludovic Courtès <address@hidden> skribis:

> I think we should email address@hidden 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}.
 
address@hidden Important Note
address@hidden Graphical Installation}, on how to work around a bug that affects
+the graphical installer in version 1.0.0.
address@hidden 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 address@hidden System.
 
address@hidden 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:
+
address@hidden
address@hidden
+Install packages that provide those commands, along with the text editor of
+your choice (for example, @code{emacs} or @code{vim}):
+
address@hidden
+guix install coreutils findutils grep procps sed emacs vim
address@hidden example
+
+At this point, the essential commands you would expect are available.
+
address@hidden
+Open your configuration file with your editor of choice, for example
address@hidden, running as root:
+
address@hidden
+sudo emacs /etc/config.scm
address@hidden example
+
address@hidden
+Change the @code{packages} field to add the ``base packages'' to the list of
+globally-installed packages, such that your configuration looks like this:
+
address@hidden
+(operating-system
+  ;; ... snip ...
+  (packages (append (list (specification->package "nss-certs"))
+                    %base-packages))
+  ;; ... snip ...
+  )
address@hidden lisp
+
address@hidden
+Reconfigure the system so that your new configuration is in effect:
+
address@hidden
+sudo guix system reconfigure /etc/config.scm
address@hidden example
address@hidden itemize
+
+We apologize for this embarrassing mistake that we made.
address@hidden 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