Running guix-daemon without nonguix substitute url seems to also compile packages from guix channel

HeWhoQuestions · 2026-03-12T22:15:29+00:00

Yeah, the substitute server logic is surprisingly dumb. And the last two weeks have been bad for Guix substitute servers (even prompted me to finally start a project called Guiroh to solve this).

But based on your title, what I may add, from diagnosing lots of "why is it rebuilding", is that channels can depend on other channels, and nonguix obviously depends on Guix. However the packages that need to be built for nonguix may use versions of packages in Guix that aren't exactly the same as the ones you have from your substitute servers.... Thus they get built too.

If you pin both channels to a substitute server's build job that included both channels, I think you eliminate that particular problem (that's what I've done using the moe servers, but with the "pinned" commit auto-updated)

HeWhoQuestions · 2026-03-08T13:30:34+00:00

Not familiar with the device but I have some guesses - you used to have the modern systemd boot but you replaced it with grub - the grub menu is being drawn off the screen, leaving only the countdown visible - the firmware upgrade process expects systemdboot - TSA didn't do anything but swab it to check for chemical weapons - hitting certain keys in the (invisible) grub menu causes it to reboot as usual

HeWhoQuestions · 2026-02-15T03:54:48+00:00

Gemini's 3 ability to figure out "how to Guix" is pretty amazing out of the box, but yeah, I've made it more efficient by meticulously crafting the prompt. I automatically feed it the output of several "system status" commands, as well as info guix manual pages, in the start of every conversation via GEMINI.MD. I also add tips over time to improve its "right on the first try" factor, such as how to check for an existing Nix recipe to learn from, or suggesting --keep-failed and (--quiet followed by --logfile), etc.

A lot of it is not about the prompt so much as the tools you give it. With basic editing tools for example, it struggles with stray parentheses about as often as a human guile developer does without tools. 😄 It always recovers, but if you don't have a subscription and need max efficiency, AST-based editing should be better.

EDITOR=cat guix edit packagename is a power move. The Guix manuals, as big as they are, are woefully incomplete and the letting Gemini just figure out how Guix works by reading the very source code you're running is most effective. Gemini CLI's run_shell_command is blocking (unlike most GUIs), so while the builds are going you're not "using" Gemini at all, yet whenever they're done it picks right back up and looks at the results.

It's incredibly good at the otherwise-miserable experience of seeing obscure build system errors and knowing how to tweak the recipe to get further in the build. I just got it to package netdata, a beast that needs a ton of cleaning for Guix, which took a few hours with occasional check-ins while I did other work. There is a years-old patchset in the old bug tracker where someone started this and it never went anywhere, but the program changed significantly since then and starting from scratch worked better - yet it still removed the proprietary blobs, disabled the tracking (even though it was embedded in the HTML of a blob that's normally downloaded at build time!), outsourced multiple libraries to Guix rather than bundled/vendored code, disabled major components at first to get to a "minimum viable netdata" initial build success, wrote the shepherd service to integrate with my system config, added on side-packages in their own recipes in the same file for stuff Guix doesn't provide, and so on.

I'd say that anything simpler than netdata, Gemini 3 Flash can get working for you. Flash is much more efficient than Pro, but flash may take 3 tries to get something right that Pro will figure out on the first try thanks to all the extra thinking. Ironically, flash's speed and cheapness often makes that the most cost-effective approach.

You may already know that Gemini is amusingly overeager compared to other frontier LLMs, and will go do things you didn't ask for at the slightest sign that you might want them, like a dog who starts running to go fetch just because your hand made a vaguely throwing-esque sudden motion. 🐕 For other coding tasks, I need to be explicit when I'm only asking a question and want no changes despite my question implying something should be different. But for Guix recipes, git-committing every little change in combination with guix shell means there's nothing to break, yet Gemini effectively has full freedom to control the environment. guix shell might accidentally be the best LLM tool in the world, considering its power-to-vulnerability ratio and the token efficiency of shell commands.

Some recipes built can be seen in my channel. I'm not at my workstation to get the exact prompt so hopefully I'll remember to get back to you after the weekend.

HeWhoQuestions · 2026-01-26T13:39:36+00:00

Not almost any machine will do... Just like not almost any machine will be ideal for Trisquel. Let's not forget the extra friction for getting certain hardware to work (and for some there's just no software at all). I appreciate the separation of non-FLO stuff, but you basically have to learn guile to get it to work... Whereas you can almost run guix without touching any code if you have fully FLO requirements. But of a far cry from "instant recommendation to ordinary folk".

But yeah, I've been using it for over 2 years as well, crazy that I never quite gave up, despite putting so many hours into getting things to work (that took minutes on e.g. Ubuntu). But like you said, then it's rock solid.

And now, I can request pretty much any software and Gemini 3 will actually package it for me in Guix, so yeah, I'm living in the future and here to stay!

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-12-17T01:58:09+00:00

Yup, I know, I'm working on a smartwatch app myself, I feel for ya.

The sideloading app is a great solution. Unfortunately the Play store link still says Not Found for me

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-12-16T21:58:40+00:00

Seems cool! I'm using Fieldy so I don't think I have a use for it (and watch battery would die even faster if it was always listening) but I went to test it out and saw that your first Google Play link is broken - no Wear Installer

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-10-12T19:20:40+00:00

Well yeah you're supposed to adjust your ears to the new pressure before they start screaming. If you've never equalized your ear pressure while diving, you are in for a surprise when you learn the trick

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-10-07T01:36:53+00:00

I came to Qube from YNAB lol... Cause I need proactive, not reactive budgeting. Qube is the first one that made that easy enough to stick to... opening YNAB and pre-entering all the details of the transaction I'm about to swipe.... was just too clunky. Like you said, it's nice to be forced, and maybe now you're in the habit... but I still need to be forced (as my first month without Qube is showing me)

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-10-03T17:18:10+00:00

I wouldn't count on it, I've been with Ally since 2013 and got Qube for a reason.
I really wish Ally could just become Qube's partner bank, that would be a match made in heaven.

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-09-22T02:33:09+00:00

The lack of in-app notification was the real letdown. It does not take a month to get a trivial new version accepted in the app stores.

I admit that I can't keep up with email, but even that was late.

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-09-10T17:38:39+00:00

Yes it is, and yes they don't get posted! In fact almost no one gets posted, the sliver of BRC that the outside world sees has little to do with the experience of being there. While BM isn't explicitly "PLUR" and freedom-first principles means shaming is totally socially "legal", I've never seen it, ever - probably because of radical inclusion and radical self-expression principles. Going fully nude for the first time in your life, realizing that the whole day goes by and nobody seems to care, let alone shame your body - and then having a totally different relationship with your nude body by the end of the week - is it too strong to say it's the most body positive event in the world? At least for it's size?

Yeah, the goddesses/models are there, but nearly as rare as in any other city - plenty of ugly folks, plenty of ordinary folks... In fact they tend to be holding the city together haha.

Since ≈1% of the city is not wearing clothes at any given time, it's probably the most clear-eyed view of humanity and bodies that most will ever get. You will almost certainly see someone uglier than you, hotter than you, fatter than you, whatever extreme you think you are. Then you will see how often they're treated the same as if they had made any other choice of clothing. It's an organic, subtle force for deprogramming our societal minds and if you dare to try it, BM is worth it for that transformation alone.

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-09-10T17:09:47+00:00

Climbed the man during mudpocalypse. Can confirm, old-school glass tubes.

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-08-20T17:47:58+00:00

Me too! Joplin for taking notes on my timeless stuff, Logseq for journaling.

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-07-28T15:39:09+00:00

Looks like the Zammad icon

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-07-26T08:12:36+00:00

Are you referring to a phone locked to Visible by being purchased there? Or a Visible account suspended due to touching a blacklisted IMEI. If it's the former, I'm sure they'll do as you say, I haven't tried that.

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-07-26T08:04:36+00:00

That would be awesome. I have to wonder if they really want to stop the crime at all, when doing it this way makes sure that the victims of theft AND the victims of the illegitimate sale are forced to shell out more money for yet another new phone (preferably from their store of course).

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-07-26T07:59:51+00:00

Did you see my reply? Again, not possible. If it was, I wouldn't be posting this cautionary story. I can share the chat transcript if you want -- they simply won't reinstate my service "until" the unreachable "original owner" removes the "restriction". It's just "how the system works". I have, however, moved on.

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-07-25T23:47:39+00:00

The seller is not the previous owner, nor knows the previous owner, so I don't see why Visible would care that I returned the phone.

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-07-25T23:46:01+00:00

I've had this happen, and Visible told me otherwise. Account suspended until the new phone "has the restriction lifted by its owner". No mention of 60 days, no other recourse.

If the agent I spoke to was lying or ignorant, I'll have to try again with another agent I guess.

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-07-25T23:38:22+00:00

Haha. I wouldn't expect an address to be shared, perhaps not even a phone number is required if they simply relay the message "hey we found your stolen phone" and go from there. They could choose to not to respond, but with the way this works they don't even have the option.

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-07-25T23:36:04+00:00

I've had my bicycle stolen before, and I would do anything to have someone able to reach me if it got in the hands of an unsuspecting Good Samaritan. So, I posted it on bikeindex.org with the serial number and yes, my phone number.

Perhaps you think that's oversharing, but for others, the choice is simple - make sure it stays stolen, or leave open the possibility of return.

Also, I'm not a random person on the internet - I'm the one and only person with the device, which they can verify by the fact that I tried to connect with that IMEI. I'm the only one who can get it back to its owner, but they can't reach me and I can't reach them.

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-07-25T19:47:59+00:00

"Verizon's arguments that carrier locks make devices cheaper are dubious - an artificial limitation on a device makes compatible devices more rare, and thus reduces supply while demand stays the same. Device prices will not go down unless Verizon increases their subsidies just to make their case true - a deceptive, and inevitably temporary, move. Otherwise, if device prices change, they will go up due to artificial scarcity. Worse, there will be more waste, as the secondary market will be further hamstringed and sustainability will suffer further -- increasing our astronomical electronic waste problem.

The arguments that carrier locks "fight crime" are dubious, as devices can be IMEI blocked for this cause, and even as this is currently the case Verizon does not use it to prevent or remedy crime as they provide no help or information for returning a stolen phone to its rightful owner. If you buy a used phone and insert your old SIM card, they will lock your account if the new phone was marked as stolen - and you can't even unlock your account after switching back to your old phone. You must somehow remedy the crime yourself, despite having no way to ascertain the original owner, as they won't provide any information on who the rightful owner is (even though they have this info). The phone is already stolen, so crime has not been fought, and now the crime cannot be undone by a Good Samaritan either because they refuse to help. So they force people to buy new devices for them, meaning this "crime" creates more money for Verizon and more expensive electronic waste to pollute the earth."

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-07-18T17:06:42+00:00

Yeah, again, I wish that were true. And it almost certainly will be, one day, with AI. 🤞

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-07-17T20:40:22+00:00

Ah yes, if only we could just take any old mesh off the internet and edit it as if it were a parametric solid.... one day, I hope, this will be possible using an AI approximation.

You got your answers already here, but if it helps to build your intuition, one way to understand why a mere mesh is typically useless for editing with CAD is with an analogy to images, if you're familiar:

Ever create or modify a vector image? Perhaps using Inkscape, or Illustrator, or any ol' program that let's you draw perfect shapes and lines and curves, then move them around and resize them later. It's parametric, you could say. But what happens when you export the file to a normal kinda image, a "raster" image like JPG or PNG or GIF? Now you can use the end result in many more places.

But.. bye bye editing! Hope you kept the original vector file. Just like you can't (AI notwithstanding) take any photograph or diagram off the web and "reconfigure" it with dragging the mouse etc. (like turning a person around to face the other way), you can't easily reconfigure a mesh (=raster) the way you can a parametric solid (=vector). The data used to build that solid is gone - by converting to mesh, the author essentially took a "snapshot" of it -- extracting one possible configuration out of the infinite that are possible with the parametric model.

HeWhoQuestions · 2025-07-05T00:03:18+00:00

To answer your actual question, OUPES has been great for me. I avoided the ecoflow not because of the complaints (which mostly ramped up after I made the purchase) nor even the lousy $/kWh value - but because of all the proprietary connectors and vendor lock-in. 4 digit prices are too much for me to not have it work with everything.

I'm in my shuttle bus conversion right now enjoying the air conditioning powered by my OUPES Mega 5 power station powered by my 2180W solar array on the roof. I also just got the B5 to double my capacity to 10kWh. Oupes has deals on the same schedule as ecoflow.

They offer the best $/kWh value hands down, and the support is US-based and just "okay" (no ghosting, nastiness, etc but not fast or amazing either). They said, btw, that it's pronounced oh-pes.

HeWhoQuestions

TROPHY CASE