Re: Emacs-Guix released outside from Guix

[myglc2]

On 12/18/2016 at 11:32 Ludovic Courtès writes:

> Hi Alex,
>
> Alex Kost <address@hidden> skribis:
>
>> Ludovic Courtès (2016-12-15 18:39 +0100) wrote:
>>
[...]
>
>> I always feel uncomfortable to send patches or to push commits to the
>> Guix repo.  I can't explain it properly, it's just painful all the
>> time; but more importantly, it slowed down the development, as I often
>> decided not to do small changes.  Contrary, I made more commits to the
>> Emacs-Guix source tree in the past month, than to the Guix repo during
>> the whole year.
>
> I have the same questions as John: what is it that made you feel
> uncomfortable?  I stated clearly multiple times that you are effectively
> “sudoer” on this code.
>
> Let’s reflect on this for all the future Alexes that come around.  If
> you are in my position, what do you do to make it so that the next Alex
> feels comfortable and happy with this workflow?  What does it take to
> avoid an “Alexit”?  :-)
>
> That’s an honest question: I cannot state what I did wrong, but I’d like
> to learn so it doesn’t happen again.

Hi Ludo’, 

I really don't see the downside to emacs-guix being moved out of the
guix repo.  From the user's point of view, it doesn't matter where the
code lives, as long as it continues to be expertly developed for the
benefit of guix users.

It is true that emacs-guix code changes will no longer pass thru the
guix QC and review process, but you control which emacs-guix code
"ships" with guix via the package definition. So there is no loss of
control.

If an approach like this provides a more comfortable and productive
working environment for a contributor, it seems like a win-win for Guix
users.  Maybe there are other situations where this approach could
address developer issues.

In the case of emacs-guix, which is so closely bound to Guix, I suggest
that you make it a "guix endorsed package."  This would clarify the
situation for guix users. In practice, one thing this could mean would
be for you to host guix-emacs discussion on guix mailing lists, if Alex
is so inclined.

Best, - George