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nonguix/README.org
John Kehayias 8d982af6fd
README.org: Clarify installation media channels procedure. 
* README.org (Installation image): Current installation media does not need
manual channel configuration. Move instructions on adding the nonguix
channel during installation to ...
(Important note for 1.4.0): ... this new subsection.

Co-authored-by: Hilton Chain <hako@ultrarare.space>
2024-08-26 12:02:51 -04:00

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#+TITLE: Nonguix
Nonguix is a software repository for the
[[https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/][GNU Guix]] package manager,
which packages some software which cannot be included in the official
distribution for ethical or policy-related reasons.
Please do NOT promote this repository on any official Guix
communication channels, such as their mailing lists or IRC channel, even in
response to support requests! This is to show respect for the Guix project's
[[http://www.gnu.org/distros/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html][strict policy]]
against recommending nonfree software, and to avoid any unnecessary hostility.
Before using this channel, you should understand the implications of using
nonfree software. Read [[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html][What is free software?]]
for more information.
(Check out the [[https://gitlab.com/guix-gaming-channels][Guix Gaming Channels]]
if you're interested in nonfree games too!)
* Warning
This channel does not endorse any non-free application.
We believe it is non-ethical, harmful to software development and
restricts the users freedom.
See the [[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html][GNU philosophy]] for a more thorough discussion.
Those packages are provided as a last resort, should none of the official Guix
packages work for you.
You should understand the implication of using non-free software. Some of those
implications include:
- Endorsement of non-free products and the perpetration of a culture of
restriction on liberties.
- Non-free software cannot (or hardly) be audited: it can potentially spy on
you, destroy or steal your data.
As a minimal security measure, it's heavily recommended to run any non-free
software inside a container.
* Installation
Nonguix can be installed as a
[[https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Channels.html][Guix channel]].
To do so, add it to =~/.config/guix/channels.scm=:
#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
(cons* (channel
(name 'nonguix)
(url "https://gitlab.com/nonguix/nonguix")
;; Enable signature verification:
(introduction
(make-channel-introduction
"897c1a470da759236cc11798f4e0a5f7d4d59fbc"
(openpgp-fingerprint
"2A39 3FFF 68F4 EF7A 3D29 12AF 6F51 20A0 22FB B2D5"))))
%default-channels)
#+END_SRC
Then run =guix pull=.
* Using Nonfree Firmware and Drivers
To use Guix System with the standard Linux kernel and nonfree firmware, edit
the ~kernel~ and ~firmware~ fields of the ~operating-system~ definition in
=config.scm=:
#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
;; Import nonfree linux module.
(use-modules (nongnu packages linux)
(nongnu system linux-initrd))
(operating-system
(kernel linux)
(initrd microcode-initrd)
(firmware (list linux-firmware))
...
)
#+END_SRC
If you only need firmware for a specific piece of hardware, you may be able to
save disk space by using a smaller firmware package instead:
#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
(firmware (cons* iwlwifi-firmware
%base-firmware))
#+END_SRC
Then of course, run ~sudo guix system reconfigure /etc/config.scm~ to apply
your configuration.
** Installation image
For some hardware the official Guix installation image won't do
(e.g. unsupported wifi). You can find a pre-generated installation image
(time and version in line with upstream Guix), running the nonfree Linux
kernel and nonfree firmware, on the [[https://gitlab.com/nonguix/nonguix/-/releases][Releases page]] (see below for important
note if you use the 1.4.0 release or those created prior to April 2024). Or,
you can generate an installation image from a local checkout of this
repository, at a more recent commit, with the following command:
#+begin_src sh
guix system image --image-type=iso9660 /path/to/this/channel/nongnu/system/install.scm
#+end_src
Like the official Guix installation image, this will produce a read-only image
with any changes made stored in memory. Alternatively, a writable image can
be created with the following command:
#+begin_src sh
guix system image --image-size=7.2GiB /path/to/this/channel/nongnu/system/install.scm
#+end_src
The ~--image-size~ option allows you to specify the size of the image and, as
such, to allocate free space to it. The given value is purely indicative. It
obviously depends on your thumbdrive capacity.
Either type of image can be written to a USB thumbdrive with:
#+BEGIN_SRC sh
# NOTE: This example assumes your thumbdrive is recognized by Linux as /dev/sdb.
dd if=/path/to/disk-image of=/dev/sdb bs=4M status=progress oflag=sync
#+END_SRC
*** Important note for 1.4.0
The installation media for 1.4.0 or those produced manually before commit
[[https://gitlab.com/nonguix/nonguix/-/commit/80b273e86a19ceaee6d9b6650ed56e853409a799#note_2075084624][80b273e8]] (April 2024) do not automatically configure your channels
specification. You need to add Nonguix "manually" into ~/etc/guix/channels.scm~
and then run ~guix pull~ to make Guix aware of Nonguix scheme libraries. This
will require enough memory to hold the cached channel code which can be
several hundred megabytes. Below is Guile scheme code to include Nonguix in
the channel specification.
#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
(use-modules (ice-9 pretty-print))
(with-output-to-file "/etc/guix/channels.scm"
(lambda _
(pretty-print
'(cons*
(channel (name 'nonguix)
(url "https://gitlab.com/nonguix/nonguix"))
%default-channels))))
#+END_SRC
** CPU Microcode
CPU microcode updates are nonfree blobs that apply directly to a processor to
patch its behavior, and are therefore not included in upstream GNU Guix.
However, running the latest microcode is important to avoid nasty CPU bugs and
hardware security vulnerabilities.
To enable early loading of CPU microcode, use the ~microcode-initrd~ function
to add the microcode to the Initial RAM Disk. Most users can simply import
~(nongnu system linux-initrd)~ and add ~(initrd microcode-initrd)~ to their
~operating-system~ definition, as illustrated above.
If you need to customize the ~initrd~ for some reason, you should first
understand the upstream documentation on
[[https://guix.gnu.org/manual/en/html_node/Initial-RAM-Disk.html][Initial RAM Disks]].
~microcode-initrd~ simply wraps another ~initrd~ function, which you can swap
out for your own. For example, this:
#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
(initrd microcode-initrd)
#+END_SRC
is exactly equivalent to:
#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
(initrd (lambda (file-systems . rest)
(apply microcode-initrd file-systems
#:initrd base-initrd
#:microcode-packages (list amd-microcode
intel-microcode)
rest)))
#+END_SRC
** Broadcom
*** Wireless
Some Broadcom wireless hardware requires a proprietary kernel module in
addition to firmware. To use such hardware you will also need to add a service
to load that module on boot and blacklist conflicting kernel modules:
#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
(use-modules (nongnu packages linux))
(operating-system
(kernel linux)
;; Blacklist conflicting kernel modules.
(kernel-arguments '("modprobe.blacklist=b43,b43legacy,ssb,bcm43xx,brcm80211,brcmfmac,brcmsmac,bcma"))
(kernel-loadable-modules (list broadcom-sta))
(firmware (cons* broadcom-bt-firmware
%base-firmware))
...)
#+END_SRC
*** Webcam
Like Broadcom wireless hardware, the Broadcom 1570 PCIe webcam (better known as
FacetimeHD and found in recent Macbooks) also requires a kernel module,
firmware, and blacklisting of conflicting modules:
#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
(use-modules (nongnu packages linux))
(use-modules (nongnu packages firmware))
(operating-system
(kernel-arguments '("modprobe.blacklist=bdc_pci"))
(kernel-loadable-modules (list facetimehd))
(firmware (cons* facetimehd-firmware
facetimehd-calibration ; Optional but make the colors look better.
%base-firmware))
(services
(cons* (simple-service 'facetimehd
kernel-module-loader-service-type
'("facetimehd"))
...))
...)
#+END_SRC
** NVIDIA graphics card
NVIDIA graphics card support in Nonguix consists of a system service =nvidia-service-type= and a package =nvda= for application setup.
The following code serves as an example for system setup:
#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
(use-modules (gnu services gnome)
(gnu services xorg)
(nongnu packages nvidia)
(nongnu services nvidia))
(operating-system
(kernel-arguments '("modprobe.blacklist=nouveau"
;; Set this if the card is not used for displaying or
;; you're using Wayland:
"nvidia_drm.modeset=1"))
(services
(cons* (service nvidia-service-type)
;; Configure desktop environment, GNOME for example.
(service gnome-desktop-service-type
;; Enable NVIDIA support, only do this when the card is
;; used for displaying.
(gnome-desktop-configuration
(gnome (replace-mesa gnome))))
;; Configure Xorg server, only do this when the card is used for
;; displaying.
(set-xorg-configuration
(xorg-configuration
(modules (cons nvda %default-xorg-modules))
(drivers '("nvidia"))))
...))
...)
#+END_SRC
For application setup, =mesa= has to be replaced with =nvda= for every individual package that requires the NVIDIA driver, this can be done with grafting (which doesn't rebuild packages) or rewriting inputs (which rebuilds packages) (see [[https://guix.gnu.org/manual/devel/en/guix.html#Package-Transformation-Options][Package Transformation Options]] in GNU Guix Reference Manual). For example:
#+BEGIN_SRC shell
guix build mesa-utils --with-graft=mesa=nvda
guix build mesa-utils --with-input=mesa=nvda
#+END_SRC
The above transformation can be used within an one-off software environment spawned by =guix shell= as well, for correct environment variables, the =nvda= package may be added into the environment:
#+BEGIN_SRC shell
guix shell mesa-utils nvda --with-graft=mesa=nvda \
-- glxinfo
#+END_SRC
To graft mesa with nvda programmatically, use =replace-mesa= defined in =(nongnu packages nvidia)=:
#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
(use-modules (nongnu packages nvidia))
;; Replace mesa with nvda for a single package.
(replace-mesa <some-package>)
;; Replace mesa with nvda for a package list.
(map replace-mesa (list <some-package> ...))
;; A package with mesa replaced is still a package, it can be part of a
;; package list.
(list (replace-mesa <some-package>)
...)
#+END_SRC
When the card is not used for displaying, environment variables =__GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia= and =__NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1= may be set.
** Substitutes for nonguix
A Nonguix substitute server is available at [[https://substitutes.nonguix.org]].
On Guix System, you can add and authorize this URL in the following way:
#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
(operating-system
(services (modify-services %desktop-services
(guix-service-type config => (guix-configuration
(inherit config)
(substitute-urls
(append (list "https://substitutes.nonguix.org")
%default-substitute-urls))
(authorized-keys
(append (list (local-file "./signing-key.pub"))
%default-authorized-guix-keys))))))
...)
#+END_SRC
Notice that the URL of the server should be specified without a trailing
slash. The file ~signing-key.pub~ should be downloaded directly from
[[https://substitutes.nonguix.org/signing-key.pub]].
Alternatively, you can replace ~(local-file "./signing-key.pub")~ by:
#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
(plain-file "non-guix.pub"
"<contents of signing-key.pub>")
#+END_SRC
Guix System will only use the substitution server after it has been
reconfigured. The substitution server will therefore by default not
be used the first time you run ~guix system reconfigure~ after adding
the substitution server. It is therefore recommended to explicitly
specify the use of the substitution server the first time
you reconfigure your system:
#+BEGIN_SRC sh
sudo guix archive --authorize < signing-key.pub
sudo guix system reconfigure /etc/config.scm --substitute-urls='https://ci.guix.gnu.org https://bordeaux.guix.gnu.org https://substitutes.nonguix.org'
#+END_SRC
Check out the [[https://guix.gnu.org/manual/en/html_node/Substitutes.html][chapter on substitutes]]
in the Guix manual for more details.
** Pinning package versions
When using substitutes is not an option, you may find
that ~guix system reconfigure~ recompiles the kernel frequently due to version
bumps in the kernel package. An inferior can be used to pin the kernel version
and avoid lengthy rebuilds.
You must pin both Guix and Nonguix, as the Nonguix kernel packages derive from
those in Guix (so changes in either could cause a rebuild). Your preferred kernel
version must be available in both pinned channels.
Consult the output of ~guix system describe~ to get the commits of Guix and
Nonguix for the current generation. Once you have determined the commits to use,
create an inferior in your system configuration file that pins the channels to
them. Then grab the appropriately-versioned Linux package from the inferior to
use as your kernel.
#+BEGIN_SRC scheme
(use-modules (srfi srfi-1) ; for `first'
(guix channels))
(operating-system
(kernel
(let*
((channels
(list (channel
(name 'nonguix)
(url "https://gitlab.com/nonguix/nonguix")
(commit "ff6ca98099c7c90e64256236a49ab21fa96fe11e"))
(channel
(name 'guix)
(url "https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/guix.git")
(commit "3be96aa9d93ea760e2d965cb3ef03540f01a0a22"))))
(inferior
(inferior-for-channels channels)))
(first (lookup-inferior-packages inferior "linux" "5.4.21"))))
...)
#+END_SRC
* Contributing
Contributions are welcome! If there's a package you would like to add, just
fork the repository and create a Merge Request when your package is ready.
Keep in mind:
- Nonguix follows the same
[[https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/en/html_node/Coding-Style.html][coding style]]
as GNU Guix. If you don't use Emacs, you should make use of the indent
script from the GNU Guix repository (=./etc/indent-code.el=).
- Commit messages should follow the same
[[https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/html_node/Change-Logs.html][conventions]]
set by GNU Guix.
- Although licensing restrictions are relaxed, packages should still have
accurate license metadata.
- If a package could be added to upstream GNU Guix with a reasonable amount of
effort, then it probably doesn't belong in Nonguix. This isn't a dumping
ground for subpar packages, but sometimes we may accept free software
packages which are currently too cumbersome to properly build from source.
- If your package is a game, you should submit it to the
[[https://gitlab.com/guix-gaming-channels][Guix Gaming Channels]] instead.
If you have a history of making quality contributions to GNU Guix or Nonguix
and would like commit access, just ask! Nontrivial changes should still go
through a simple Merge Request and code review process, but Nonguix needs more
people involved to succeed as a community project.
* Community
If you want to discuss Nonguix-related topics, you can hang out and stay in
touch on the =#nonguix= IRC channel on [[https://libera.chat/][Libera Chat]].
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