01/01: website: Add 1.0.1 post.

[Ludovic Court�s]

civodul pushed a commit to branch master
in repository guix-artwork.

commit 5616d75645d87eab995a34cb73d7ad3907661b07
Author: Ludovic Courtès <address@hidden>
Date:   Fri May 17 15:23:14 2019 +0200

    website: Add 1.0.1 post.
    
    * website/posts/gnu-guix-1.0.1-released.md: New file.
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 1 file changed, 211 insertions(+)

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+title: GNU Guix 1.0.1 released
+date: 2019-05-17 17:17
+author: Ludovic Courtès
+slug: gnu-guix-1.0.1-released
+tags: Releases, System tests
+---
+We are pleased to announce the release of GNU Guix version 1.0.1.  This
+new version fixes bugs in the [graphical
+installer](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Guided-Graphical-Installation.html)
+for the standalone Guix System.
+
+The release comes with [ISO-9660 installation
+images](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/System-Installation.html),
+a [virtual machine
+image](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Running-Guix-in-a-VM.html),
+and with tarballs to install the package manager on top of your
+GNU/Linux distro, either [from
+source](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Requirements.html)
+or [from
+binaries](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Binary-Installation.html).
+Guix users can update by running `guix pull`.
+
+It’s been just over two weeks since we [announced
+1.0.0](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/blog/2019/gnu-guix-1.0.0-released/)—two
+weeks and 702 commits by 39 people already!
+
+This is primarily a bug-fix release, specifically focusing on issues in
+the graphical installer for the standalone system:
+
+  - The most [embarrassing bug](https://issues.guix.gnu.org/issue/35541)
+    would lead the graphical installer to produce a configuration where
+    
[`%base-packages`](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Using-the-Configuration-System.html#index-_0025base_002dpackages)
+    was omitted from the `packages` field.  Consequently, the freshly
+    installed system would not have the usual commands in `$PATH`—`ls`,
+    `ps`, etc.—and Xfce would fail to start for that reason.  See below
+    for a “post-mortem” analysis.
+  - The `wpa-supplicant` service would [sometimes fail to
+    start](https://issues.guix.gnu.org/issue/35550) in the installation
+    image, thereby breaking network access; this is now fixed.
+  - The installer [now](https://issues.guix.gnu.org/issue/35540) allows
+    you to toggle password and passphrase visibility, and it [no
+    longer](https://issues.guix.gnu.org/issue/35716) restricts their
+    length.
+  - The installer [can now
+    create](https://issues.guix.gnu.org/issue/35716) Btrfs file
+    systems.
+  - `network-manager-applet` is [now](https://issues.guix.gnu.org/35554)
+    part of
+    
[`%desktop-services`](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Desktop-Services.html#index-_0025desktop_002dservices),
+    and thus readily usable not just from GNOME but also from Xfce.
+  - The
+    
[`NEWS`](https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/guix.git/tree/NEWS?h=version-1.0.1)
+    file has more details, but there were also minor bug fixes for
+    [`guix environment`](https://bugs.gnu.org/35618), [`guix
+    search`](https://bugs.gnu.org/35588), and [`guix
+    refresh`](https://bugs.gnu.org/35684).
+
+A couple of new features were reviewed in time to make it into 1.0.1:
+
+  - [`guix system
+    
docker-image`](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Invoking-guix-system.html)
+    now produces an OS image with an “entry point”, which makes it
+    easier to use than before.
+  - [`guix system
+    
container`](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Invoking-guix-system.html)
+    has a new `--network` option, allowing the container to share
+    networking access with the host.
+  - 70 new packages were added and 483 packages were updated.
+  - Translations were updated as usual and we are glad to announce a
+    20%-complete [Russian translation of the
+    manual](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/ru/html_node).
+
+
+# Recap of [bug #35541](https://issues.guix.gnu.org/issue/35541)
+
+The 1.0.1 release was primarily motivated by [bug
+#35541](https://issues.guix.gnu.org/issue/35541), which was reported
+shortly after the 1.0.0 release.  If you installed Guix System with the
+[graphical
+installer](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Guided-Graphical-Installation.html),
+chances are that, because of this bug, you ended up with a system where
+all the usual GNU/Linux commands—`ls`, `grep`, `ps`, etc.—were _not_ in
+`$PATH`.  That in turn would also prevent Xfce from starting, if you
+chose that desktop environment for your system.
+
+We quickly published in the [system installation
+instructions](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Guided-Graphical-Installation.html)
+a note explaining how to work around the issue:
+
+  - First, install packages that provide those commands, along with the
+    text editor of your choice (for example, `emacs` or `vim`):
+       
+       ```
+    guix install coreutils findutils grep procps sed emacs vim
+       ```
+
+  - At this point, the essential commands you would expect are
+    available.  Open your configuration file with your editor of choice,
+    for example `emacs`, running as root:
+
+    ```
+    sudo emacs /etc/config.scm
+       ```
+
+  - Change the `packages` field to add the “base packages” to the list of
+    globally-installed packages, such that your configuration looks like
+    this:
+
+    ```scheme
+       (operating-system
+         ;; … snip …
+         (packages (append (list (specification->package "nss-certs"))
+                                               %base-packages))
+         ;; … snip …
+         )
+    ```
+
+  - Reconfigure the system so that your new configuration is in effect:
+
+    ```
+    guix pull && sudo guix system reconfigure /etc/config.scm
+       ```
+
+If you already installed 1.0.0, you can perform the steps above to get
+all these core commands back.
+
+Guix is _purely declarative_: if you give it [an operating system
+definition](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Using-the-Configuration-System.html)
+where the “base packages” are not [available
+system-wide](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Using-the-Configuration-System.html#Globally_002dVisible-Packages),
+then it goes ahead and installs precisely that.  That’s exactly what
+happened with this bug: the installer generated such a configuration and
+passed it to `guix system init` as part of the installation process.
+
+# Lessons learned
+
+Technically, this is a “trivial” bug: it’s fixed by adding one line to
+your operating system configuration and reconfiguring, and the fix for
+the installer itself [is also a
+one-liner](https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/guix.git/commit/?id=ecb0df6817eb3767e6b4dcf1945f3c2dfbe3b44f).
+Nevertheless, it’s obviously a serious bug for the impression it
+gives—this is _not_ the user experience we want to offer.  So how did such
+a serious bug go through unnoticed?
+
+For several years now, Guix has had a number of automated [_system
+tests_](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/blog/2016/guixsd-system-tests/)
+running in virtual machines (VMs).  These tests primarily ensure that
+[system
+services](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Services.html)
+work as expected, but some of them [specifically test system
+installation](https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/guix.git/tree/gnu/tests/install.scm):
+installing to a RAID or encrypted device, with a separate `/home`, using
+Btrfs, etc.  These tests even run on our [continuous integration
+service](http://ci.guix.gnu.org/jobset/guix-master) (search for the
+“tests.*” jobs there).
+
+Unfortunately, those installation tests target the so-called [“manual”
+installation
+process](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Manual-Installation.html),
+which is scriptable.  They do _not_ test installer’s graphical user
+interface.  Consequently, testing the user interface (UI) itself was a
+manual process.  Our attention was, presumably, focusing more on UI
+aspects since—so we thought—the actual installation tests were already
+taken care of by the system tests.  That the generated system
+configuration could be syntactically correct but definitely wrong from a
+usability viewpoint perhaps didn’t occur to us.  The end result is that
+the issue went unnoticed.
+
+The lesson here is that: manual testing should _also_ look for issues in
+“unexpected places”, and more importantly, we need automated tests for
+the graphical UI.  The Debian and Guix installer UIs are similar—both
+using the [Newt](https://pagure.io/newt) toolkit.  Debian tests its
+installer using
+[“pre-seeds”](https://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/Preseed), which
+are essentially answers to all the questions and choices the UI would
+present.  We could adopt a similar approach, or we could test the UI
+itself at a lower level—reading the screen, and simulating key strokes.
+UI testing is notoriously tricky so we’ll have to figure out how to get
+there.
+
+# Conclusion
+
+Our 1.0 party was a bit spoiled by this bug, and we are sorry that
+installation was disappointing to those of you who tried 1.0.  We hope
+1.0.1 will allow you to try and see what declarative and programmable
+system configuration management is like, because that’s where the real
+value of Guix System is—the graphical installer is icing on the cake.
+
+Join us [on `#guix` and on the mailing
+lists](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/contact/)!
+
+
+#### About GNU Guix
+
+[GNU Guix](https://www.gnu.org/software/guix) is a transactional package
+manager and an advanced distribution of the GNU system that [respects
+user
+freedom](https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html).
+Guix can be used on top of any system running the kernel Linux, or it
+can be used as a standalone operating system distribution for i686,
+x86_64, ARMv7, and AArch64 machines.
+
+In addition to standard package management features, Guix supports
+transactional upgrades and roll-backs, unprivileged package management,
+per-user profiles, and garbage collection.  When used as a standalone
+GNU/Linux distribution, Guix offers a declarative, stateless approach to
+operating system configuration management.  Guix is highly customizable
+and hackable through [Guile](https://www.gnu.org/software/guile)
+programming interfaces and extensions to the
+[Scheme](http://schemers.org) language.
+