Re: What is the difference between the directories in / and in /run/current-system/profile?

[Nathan Dehnel]

Thanks for the info

On Mon, Apr 29, 2024 at 11:34 AM Felix Lechner
<felix.lechner@lease-up.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Nathaniel,
>
> On Sat, Apr 27 2024, Nathan Dehnel wrote:
>
> > These directories are in both locations.
>
> As you already figured out, they contain different things.
>
> > What does it mean for a file to be in one place vs the other?
>
> Files in /var and /etc hold some form of local system state, plus logs.
>
> Files in your system profile's 'var' provide data that packages are
> expected to deposit there.
>
> For 'etc' it's basically the same, except for configuration files.  Many
> of those are actually in the store by themselves---and that's really the
> goal for Guix.
>
> My /bin is empty, except for /bin/sh.  The profile's bin holds symbolic
> links to all 'bin' files from packages in your current profile.  The
> profile's 'bin' is how your shell finds programs.  (It should also look
> in /run/setuid-programs.)
>
> Ideally, / would be empty, except for /gnu/store and mount points for
> /home and /root.  Some folks run / on a tmpfs and manage to get pretty
> close.  One challenge is that we haven't figured out what to do with
> secrets.  The store is public, so they can't go there.
>
> Please don't despair.  Guix is totally different from other operating
> systems, but it makes a great deal of sense once you get used to it.
> That may involve a year of intense adjustment, or more.
>
> Kind regards
> Felix