Re: Configuration System's Handling of Missing Packages

[Keith Osterheld]

Thanks for the help! I have another question now.

> “(use-package-modules xfce)” is same as “(use-modules gnu packages xfce)”,
> it only make the ‘xfce’ module avaliable (like ‘import’ or ‘require’),
> but to actually use the 'xfce' package (exported by the ‘xfce’ module),
> you need to add it to the ‘packages’ field of the ‘operating-system’.
>
> items (packages, configuration files, etc) will be download or build
> into the ’/gnu’ store when building the ’operating-system’, and packages
> listed in the ‘packages’ field will be “installed” into the system
> profile, aka ’/run/current-system/profile’.

What's the difference between a package being downloaded into /gnu
instead of the system profile, and when should I use the package module
instead of installing it normally? To me it seems like the only reason
for using a package module is for easier deployment, is that right?

Thanks,
Keith