Merge branch 'master' into gtk-rebuild

2 files changed, 48 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/doc/emacs.texi b/doc/emacs.texi
index 93d0c86b42..e1d14a4c4a 100644
--- a/doc/emacs.texi
+++ b/doc/emacs.texi
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ is ready to use, provided Guix is installed system-wide, which is the
 case by default.  So if that is what you're using, you can happily skip
 this section and read about the fun stuff.
 
-If you're not yet a happy user of GSD, a little bit of setup is needed.
+If you're not yet a happy user of GuixSD, a little bit of setup is needed.
 To be able to use ``guix.el'', you need to install the following
 packages:
 
diff --git a/doc/guix.texi b/doc/guix.texi
index 9bd9c581ce..cfb626c705 100644
--- a/doc/guix.texi
+++ b/doc/guix.texi
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ Installation
 * Running the Test Suite::      Testing Guix.
 * Setting Up the Daemon::       Preparing the build daemon's environment.
 * Invoking guix-daemon::        Running the build daemon.
+* Running Guix Before It Is Installed:: Hacker tricks.
 
 Setting Up the Daemon
 
@@ -114,6 +115,11 @@ Programming Interface
 * The Store Monad::             Purely functional interface to the store.
 * G-Expressions::               Manipulating build expressions.
 
+Defining Packages
+
+* package Reference::           The package data type.
+* origin Reference::            The origin data type.
+
 Utilities
 
 * Invoking guix build::         Building packages from the command line.
@@ -247,6 +253,7 @@ instead, you want to install the complete GNU operating system,
 * Running the Test Suite::      Testing Guix.
 * Setting Up the Daemon::       Preparing the build daemon's environment.
 * Invoking guix-daemon::        Running the build daemon.
+* Running Guix Before It Is Installed::     Hacker tricks.
 @end menu
 
 @node Binary Installation
@@ -825,6 +832,44 @@ useful in exceptional circumstances, such as if you need to run several
 daemons on the same machine.
 @end table
 
+@node Running Guix Before It Is Installed
+@section Running Guix Before It Is Installed
+
+If you are hacking Guix itself---which is a good idea!---you will find
+it useful to test the changes made in your local source tree checkout
+without actually installing them.
+
+To that end, all the command-line tools can be used even if you have not
+run @command{make install}.  To do that, prefix each command with
+@command{./pre-inst-env} (the @file{pre-inst-env} script lives in the
+top build tree of Guix), as in:
+
+@example
+$ sudo ./pre-inst-env guix-daemon --build-users-group=guixbuild
+$ ./pre-inst-env guix build hello
+@end example
+
+@noindent
+Similarly, for a Guile session using the Guix modules:
+
+@example
+$ ./pre-inst-env guile -c '(use-modules (guix utils)) (pk (%current-system))'
+@end example
+
+The @command{pre-inst-env} script sets up all the environment variables
+necessary to support this, including @code{PATH} and
+@code{GUILE_LOAD_PATH}.
+
+If you are hacking Guix from Emacs using the wonderful Geiser
+(@pxref{Introduction,,, geiser, Geiser User Manual}), make sure to
+augment Guile's load path so that it finds source files from your
+checkout:
+
+@lisp
+;; Assuming the Guix checkout is in ~/src/guix.
+(add-to-list 'geiser-guile-load-path "~/src/guix")
+@end lisp
+
 
 @c *********************************************************************
 @node Package Management
@@ -6210,7 +6255,8 @@ creating packages.  For more information on package definitions,
 Once a package definition is in place, stored in a file in the Guix
 source tree, it can be tested using the @command{guix build} command
 (@pxref{Invoking guix build}).  For example, assuming the new package is
-called @code{gnew}, you may run this command from the Guix build tree:
+called @code{gnew}, you may run this command from the Guix build tree
+(@pxref{Running Guix Before It Is Installed}):
 
 @example
 ./pre-inst-env guix build gnew --keep-failed