* gnu/packages/patches/glibc-guix-locpath.patch: New file.
* gnu-system.am (dist_patch_DATA): Add it.
* gnu/packages/base.scm (glibc)[source]: Use it.
[native-search-paths]: Use 'GUIX_LOCPATH' instead of 'LOCPATH'.
* doc/guix.texi (Application Setup): Introduce the term "foreign
distro". Document 'GUIX_LOCPATH'.
---
doc/guix.texi | 23 +++++++++++-----
gnu-system.am | 1 +
gnu/packages/base.scm | 7 +++--
gnu/packages/patches/glibc-guix-locpath.patch | 38 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
4 files changed, 60 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
create mode 100644 gnu/packages/patches/glibc-guix-locpath.patch
diff --git a/doc/guix.texi b/doc/guix.texi
index 68ee451..1ad4229 100644
--- a/doc/guix.texi
+++ b/doc/guix.texi
@@ -933,24 +933,24 @@ daemons on the same machine.
@node Application Setup
@section Application Setup
-When using Guix on top of GNU/Linux distribution other than GuixSD, a
-few additional steps are needed to get everything in place. Here are
-some of them.
+When using Guix on top of GNU/Linux distribution other than GuixSD---a
+so-called @dfn{foreign distro}---a few additional steps are needed to
+get everything in place. Here are some of them.
@subsection Locales
@anchor{locales-and-locpath}
@cindex locales, when not on GuixSD
@vindex LOCPATH
+@vindex GUIX_LOCPATH
Packages installed @i{via} Guix will not use the host system's locale
data. Instead, you must first install one of the locale packages
-available with Guix and then define the @code{LOCPATH} environment
-variable (@pxref{Locale Names, @code{LOCPATH},, libc, The GNU C Library
-Reference Manual}):
+available with Guix and then define the @code{GUIX_LOCPATH} environment
+variable:
@example
$ guix package -i glibc-locales
-$ export LOCPATH=$HOME/.guix-profile/lib/locale
+$ export GUIX_LOCPATH=$HOME/.guix-profile/lib/locale
@end example
Note that the @code{glibc-locales} package contains data for all the
@@ -958,6 +958,15 @@ locales supported by the GNU@tie{}libc and weighs in at around
110@tie{}MiB. Alternately, the @code{glibc-utf8-locales} is smaller but
limited to a few UTF-8 locales.
+The @code{GUIX_LOCPATH} variable plays the exact same role as
+@code{LOCPATH} (@pxref{Locale Names, @code{LOCPATH},, libc, The GNU C
+Library Reference Manual}). However, since it is honored only by Guix's
+libc, and not by the libc provided by foreign distros, using
+@code{GUIX_LOCPATH} allows you to make sure the the foreign distro's
+programs will not end up loading incompatible locale data. This is
+important because the locale data format used by different libc versions
+may be incompatible.
+
@subsection X11 Fonts
The majority of graphical applications use Fontconfig to locate and
diff --git a/gnu-system.am b/gnu-system.am
index f2f7e17..aba8f8d 100644
--- a/gnu-system.am
+++ b/gnu-system.am
@@ -469,6 +469,7 @@ dist_patch_DATA = \
gnu/packages/patches/glib-tests-timer.patch \
gnu/packages/patches/glib-tests-gapplication.patch \
gnu/packages/patches/glibc-bootstrap-system.patch \
+ gnu/packages/patches/glibc-guix-locpath.patch \
gnu/packages/patches/glibc-ldd-x86_64.patch \
gnu/packages/patches/glibc-locales.patch \
gnu/packages/patches/glibc-o-largefile.patch \
diff --git a/gnu/packages/base.scm b/gnu/packages/base.scm
index a7d9459..337fdae 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/base.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/base.scm
@@ -476,6 +476,7 @@ store.")
(modules '((guix build utils)))
(patches (map search-patch
'("glibc-ldd-x86_64.patch"
+ "glibc-guix-locpath.patch"
"glibc-o-largefile.patch")))))
(build-system gnu-build-system)
@@ -606,9 +607,11 @@ store.")
(native-search-paths
;; Search path for packages that provide locale data. This is useful
- ;; primarily in build environments.
+ ;; primarily in build environments. Use 'GUIX_LOCPATH' rather than
+ ;; 'LOCPATH' to avoid interference with the host system's libc on foreign
+ ;; distros.
(list (search-path-specification
- (variable "LOCPATH")
+ (variable "GUIX_LOCPATH")
(files '("lib/locale")))))
(synopsis "The GNU C Library")
diff --git a/gnu/packages/patches/glibc-guix-locpath.patch b/gnu/packages/patches/glibc-guix-locpath.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2a814a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gnu/packages/patches/glibc-guix-locpath.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+Honor a special 'GUIX_LOCPATH' environment variable.
+
+This is most useful when using Guix on top of another distro, which uses an
+different libc version with incompatible locale data. In this case, setting
+'GUIX_LOCPATH' rather than 'LOCPATH' allows users to tell Guix's libc where to
+look for its locale data without breaking programs that use the other libc.
+
+See <https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guix-devel/2015-09/msg00717.html> for
+some background information.
+
+--- a/locale/newlocale.c
++++ b/locale/newlocale.c
+@@ -102,7 +102,9 @@ __newlocale (int category_mask, const char *locale, __locale_t base)
+ locale_path = NULL;
+ locale_path_len = 0;
+
+- locpath_var = getenv ("LOCPATH");
++ locpath_var = getenv ("GUIX_LOCPATH");
++ if (locpath_var == NULL || locpath_var[0] == '\0')
++ locpath_var = getenv ("LOCPATH");
+ if (locpath_var != NULL && locpath_var[0] != '\0')
+ {
+ if (__argz_create_sep (locpath_var, ':',
+diff --git a/locale/setlocale.c b/locale/setlocale.c
+index ead030d..ca2337d 100644
+--- a/locale/setlocale.c
++++ b/locale/setlocale.c
+@@ -251,7 +251,9 @@ setlocale (int category, const char *locale)
+ locale_path = NULL;
+ locale_path_len = 0;
+
+- locpath_var = getenv ("LOCPATH");
++ locpath_var = getenv ("GUIX_LOCPATH");
++ if (locpath_var == NULL || locpath_var[0] == '\0')
++ locpath_var = getenv ("LOCPATH");
+ if (locpath_var != NULL && locpath_var[0] != '\0')
+ {
+ if (__argz_create_sep (locpath_var, ':',
