branch master updated: website: build-vm: Take suggestions by Simon Tournier into account.

[Ludovic Courtès]

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The following commit(s) were added to refs/heads/master by this push:
     new dde467f  website: build-vm: Take suggestions by Simon Tournier into 
account.
dde467f is described below

commit dde467f5840cd9c728ef756d09a85b94f2b8d499
Author: Ludovic Courtès <ludo@gnu.org>
AuthorDate: Tue Mar 12 16:23:13 2024 +0100

    website: build-vm: Take suggestions by Simon Tournier into account.
    
    * website/drafts/build-vm.md: Tweak wording.  Motivate the need for
    reproducible research software.
---
 website/drafts/build-vm.md | 26 +++++++++++++++++++-------
 1 file changed, 19 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/website/drafts/build-vm.md b/website/drafts/build-vm.md
index f6ca6ea..5cf9700 100644
--- a/website/drafts/build-vm.md
+++ b/website/drafts/build-vm.md
@@ -56,7 +56,9 @@ depends.
 The project has two build farms; `bordeaux.guix.gnu.org` has been
 keeping substitutes (pre-built binaries) of everything it built since
 roughly 2021, while `ci.guix.gnu.org` keeps substitutes for roughly two
-years.  Time traveling to a period where substitutes are available is
+years, but there is currently no guarantee on the duration
+substitutes may be retained.
+Time traveling to a period where substitutes are available is
 fine: you end up downloading lots of binaries, but that’s OK, you rather
 quickly have your software environment at hand.
 
@@ -234,8 +236,8 @@ that takes care of setting up offloading to the VM: 
creating substitute
 signing keys and SSH keys, exchanging secret key material between the
 host and the guest, and so on.
 
-The end result is a [Guix System
-service](https://guix.gnu.org/manual/devel/en/html_node/Virtualization-Services.html#Virtual-Build-Machines)
+The end result is a [service for Guix System
+users](https://guix.gnu.org/manual/devel/en/html_node/Virtualization-Services.html#Virtual-Build-Machines)
 that can be configured in a few lines:
 
 ```scheme
@@ -339,9 +341,11 @@ substitutes available at `ci.guix.gnu.org`.
 # Reproducible research workflows reproduced
 
 Incidentally, this effort rebuilding 5-year-old packages has allowed us
-to fix embarrassing problems.  Software that accompanies “reproducible”
-research papers could no longer be deployed, at least not without this
-clock twiddling effort:
+to fix embarrassing problems.  Software that accompanies research papers
+that followed our [reproducibility
+guidelines](https://hpc.guix.info/blog/2023/06/a-guide-to-reproducible-research-papers/)
+could no longer be deployed, at least not without this clock twiddling
+effort:
 
   - 
[code](https://archive.softwareheritage.org/browse/origin/directory/?origin_url=https://gitlab.inria.fr/lcourtes-phd/edcc-2006-redone)
        of [_[Re] Storage Tradeoffs in a Collaborative Backup Service for
@@ -363,6 +367,14 @@ It’s good news that we can now re-deploy these 5-year-old 
software
 environments with minimum hassle; it’s bad news that holding this
 promise took extra effort.
 
+The ability to reproduce the environment of software that accompanies
+research work should not be considered a mundanity or an exercise that’s
+[“overkill”](https://hpc.guix.info/blog/2022/07/is-reproducibility-practical/).
+The ability to rerun, inspect, and modify software are the natural
+extension of the scientific method.  Without a companion reproducible
+software environment, research papers _are merely the advertisement of
+scholarship_, to paraphrase Jon Claerbout.
+
 # The future
 
 The astute reader surely noticed that we didn’t answer question #1
@@ -401,4 +413,4 @@ Another avenue would be to make `/gnu/store` in the guest 
VM an overlay
 over the host store so that inputs do not need to be transferred and
 copied.
 
-Until then, happy software archaeology!
+Until then, happy software (re)deployment!