[[!comment format=mdwn
 username="erics"
 avatar="http://cdn.libravatar.org/avatar/6e5f74c742128e5d98fd672ed6ea4865"
 subject="Adventures with stack"
 date="2017-11-01T19:19:51Z"
 content="""
I've played with git-annex before, but never used it seriously.  Building it from source for the first time, to get the latest and greatest, I ran into a few stumbling blocks.  I've got them sorted out now; this is to (a) document them, and (b) ask which if any of these should be considered bugs -- in which case I'll file bug reports about them.

I'm a complete Haskell newbie, and don't want to dive into that right now, so I'm using *stack*, since I like the sound of
> Using stack automates nearly everything, will work on many systems, and avoids build failures due to fast-changing haskell libraries.

I'm working with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, stack 1.5.1, ghc 8.0.2 (courtesy of stack), and git-annex 6.20171026.

So, here's how things went.

*Almost* following the *stack* section of [[install/fromsource]], after `stack setup` I did `stack build` instead of`stack install`, so that I could (a) run the tests before installing, and (b) install into /usr/local as root.

Issue #1: **`stack test` doesn't run the tests**.  It took me a while to find `git annex test`.  This isn't a bug, just something for people to be aware of.

Issue #2: **`stack build` doesn't create the *git-annex* and *git-annex-shell* symlinks**.  Which means that the *ssh remote* tests fail.

Issue #3: **Unless they don't**.  If *./git-annex-shell* doesn't exist, the tests use whatever copy they find on $PATH.  Which lets them run -- but it's not testing the code you think it's testing.  This could lead to either false negatives or false positives under different circumstances.

I'd noticed the Makefile, but dismissed it after a failed attempt to set `BUILDER=stack`, especially since it's undocumented.  Turns out it does important stuff -- like creating those symlinks.  So I dug more deeply.  The magic incantation is:

	make BUILDER=stack GHC=\"stack ghc --\" [target]

The \"--\" is the unobvious bit.

There's even a `make test`.

Issue #4: The Makefile does good and useful things, but **I can find no mention of it in [[install/fromsource]]**.

OK, so at this point I've got the thing built, and the tests passing (legitimately, using the correct version of *git-annex-shell*).  Time to install it.

Issue #5: **`sudo make install` doesn't work**.  *stack* refuses to run, complaining:

> You are not the owner of '/home/erics/.stack/'. Aborting to protect file permissions.
> Retry with '--allow-different-user' to disable this precaution.

See <https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/471> for what this is about.

Three ways to add that option:

1. Hack the Makefile -- add another `if [ $BUILDER = stack ]` section

2. Add this line to git-annex's *stack.yaml* (or to *~/.stack/config.yaml* if you want it as a global setting):

       allow-different-user: true

   (It's a standalone entry, so should have *no* leading whitespace)

3. For installing, use a variant of the above magic incantation:

	  sudo make BUILDER=\"stack --allow-different-user\" GHC=\"stack ghc --\" install

I did #2, but #3 is probably safest, since it means you're only allow(ing)-different-user when you actually need to.

However you do it, be aware that if *stack* decides, at make-install time, to create any files under the source tree, of course it will create them as root, so subsequent builds as non-root will find them unwritable.  I presume that's what stack's error message, \"... to protect file permissions\", is talking about.

Issue #6: **`make install` does indeed cause stack to create more files**.  Specifically, it builds *Build/InstallDesktopFile*.  It would make sense to build that at `make all` time, so that it gets done as the non-root user. This wouldn't guarantee not to pollute the source tree with root-owned files -- but as it is now, that's pretty much guaranteed *to* happen.

After all those gripes, one very very good thing: I didn't have to apt-get any Haskell things at all!  Stack downloaded everything it needed, including the compiler.  Nice!

Questions for @Joey:

A. Is the Makefile undocumented because you don't really intend anyone else to use it, or is that just an oversight?

B. Are any of the above issues legitimate bugs?  (Prime candidates, to my mind: #3 and #6)

C. Given all the dependency grief in the comments from Cabal users, and that for all my troubles I experienced *none* of that ... maybe *stack* should be the recommended approach, even if you don't use it yourself?

D. What's the preferred way to submit patches?  I have a couple of cosmetic ones for Makefile, besides the (trivial) fix for #6

I'll edit the *stack* section of [[install/fromsource]] (the only part I'm competent to talk about), once I know which direction to go (i.e. the answer to (A)).


"""]]