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doc: Rephrase introduction to give a better overview. 

Suggested by myglc2 <myglc2@gmail.com>.

* doc/guix.texi (Introduction): Rephrase to mention features and use
cases first, and foundations last.
(Features): Mention "GuixSD".
(Utilities): Change intro: not all the tools are for packagers.
This commit is contained in:
Ludovic Courtès 2016-03-25 23:50:56 +01:00
parent c7762233fb
commit 6f77360681
1 changed files with 47 additions and 25 deletions
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doc/guix.texi
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@ -249,20 +249,52 @@ Coding Style
@node Introduction
@chapter Introduction
@cindex purpose
GNU Guix@footnote{``Guix'' is pronounced like ``geeks'', or ``ɡiːks''
using the international phonetic alphabet (IPA).} is a functional
package management tool for the GNU system. Package management consists
of all activities that relate to building packages from sources,
honoring their build-time and run-time dependencies,
installing packages in user environments, upgrading installed packages
to new versions or rolling back to a previous set, removing unused
software packages, etc.
using the international phonetic alphabet (IPA).} is a package
management tool for the GNU system. Guix makes it easy for unprivileged
users to install, upgrade, or remove packages, to roll back to a
previous package set, to build packages from source, and generally
assists with the creation and maintenance of software environments.
@cindex user interfaces
Guix provides a command-line package management interface
(@pxref{Invoking guix package}), a set of command-line utilities
(@pxref{Utilities}), a visual user interface in Emacs (@pxref{Emacs
Interface}), as well as Scheme programming interfaces
(@pxref{Programming Interface}).
@cindex build daemon
Its @dfn{build daemon} is responsible for building packages on behalf of
users (@pxref{Setting Up the Daemon}) and for downloading pre-built
binaries from authorized sources (@pxref{Substitutes}).
@cindex extensibility of the distribution
@cindex customization of packages
Guix includes package definitions for many GNU and non-GNU packages, all
of which @uref{https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html, respect the
user's computing freedom}. It is @emph{extensible}: users can write
their own package definitions (@pxref{Defining Packages}) and make them
available as independent package modules (@pxref{Package Modules}). It
is also @emph{customizable}: users can @emph{derive} specialized package
definitions from existing ones, including from the command line
(@pxref{Package Transformation Options}).
@cindex Guix System Distribution
@cindex GuixSD
You can install GNU@tie{}Guix on top of an existing GNU/Linux system
where it complements the available tools without interference
(@pxref{Installation}), or you can use it as part of the standalone
@dfn{Guix System Distribution} or GuixSD (@pxref{GNU Distribution}).
With GNU@tie{}GuixSD, you @emph{declare} all aspects of the operating
system configuration and Guix takes care of instantiating the
configuration in a transactional, reproducible, and stateless fashion
(@pxref{System Configuration}).
@cindex functional package management
The term @dfn{functional} refers to a specific package management
Under the hood, Guix implements the @dfn{functional package management}
discipline pioneered by Nix (@pxref{Acknowledgments}).
In Guix, the package build and installation process is seen
as a function, in the mathematical sense. That function takes inputs,
as a @emph{function}, in the mathematical sense. That function takes inputs,
such as build scripts, a compiler, and libraries, and
returns an installed package. As a pure function, its result depends
solely on its inputs---for instance, it cannot refer to software or
@ -286,18 +318,6 @@ This approach is the foundation for the salient features of Guix: support
for transactional package upgrade and rollback, per-user installation, and
garbage collection of packages (@pxref{Features}).
Guix has a command-line interface, which allows users to build, install,
upgrade, and remove packages, as well as a Scheme programming interface.
@cindex Guix System Distribution
@cindex GuixSD
Last but not least, Guix is used to build a distribution of the GNU
system, with many GNU and non-GNU free software packages. The Guix
System Distribution, or GNU@tie{}GuixSD, takes advantage of the core
properties of Guix at the system level. With GuixSD, users
@emph{declare} all aspects of the operating system configuration, and
Guix takes care of instantiating that configuration in a reproducible,
stateless fashion. @xref{GNU Distribution}.
@c *********************************************************************
@node Installation
@ -1214,7 +1234,8 @@ In addition, any package transaction may be @emph{rolled back}. So, if,
for example, an upgrade installs a new version of a package that turns
out to have a serious bug, users may roll back to the previous instance
of their profile, which was known to work well. Similarly, the global
system configuration is subject to transactional upgrades and roll-back
system configuration on GuixSD is subject to
transactional upgrades and roll-back
(@pxref{Using the Configuration System}).
All packages in the package store may be @emph{garbage-collected}.
@ -3878,9 +3899,10 @@ has an associated gexp compiler, such as a @code{<package>}.
@node Utilities
@chapter Utilities
This section describes tools primarily targeted at developers and users
who write new package definitions. They complement the Scheme
programming interface of Guix in a convenient way.
This section describes Guix command-line utilities. Some of them are
primarily targeted at developers and users who write new package
definitions, while others are more generally useful. They complement
the Scheme programming interface of Guix in a convenient way.
@menu
* Invoking guix build:: Building packages from the command line.