mes/doc/mes.texi

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@c -*- mode: texinfo; -*-

@c %**start of header
@setfilename mes.info
@documentencoding UTF-8
@settitle GNU Mes Reference Manual
@c %**end of header

@include version.texi

@c Identifier of the OpenPGP key used to sign tarballs and such.
@set OPENPGP-SIGNING-KEY-ID 1A858392E331EAFDB8C27FFBF3C1A0D9C1D65273

@copying
Copyright @copyright{} 2018 Jan (janneke) Nieuwenhuizen@*

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or
any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.  A
copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free
Documentation License''.
@end copying

@dircategory Bootstrapping
@direntry
* Mes: (mes).       A system bootstrap worthy of GNU.


* mes: (mes)Invoking mes.       Running Mes, a minimalist Guile lookalike.
* mescc: (mes)Invoking MesCC.   Running the MesCC bootstrap compiler.
@end direntry

@titlepage
@title GNU Mes Reference Manual
@subtitle Full Source Bootstrapping of the GNU Guix Operating System
@author Jan (janneke) Nieuwenhuizen

@page
@vskip 0pt plus 1filll
Edition @value{EDITION} @*
@value{UPDATED} @*

@insertcopying
@end titlepage

@contents

@c *********************************************************************
@node Top
@top GNU Mes

This document describes GNU Mes version @value{VERSION}, a bootstrappable
Scheme interpreter and C compiler written for bootstrapping the GNU system.

@menu
* Introduction::                What is Mes about?
* Installation::                Installing Mes.
* Bootstrapping::               Would you strap my boots?
* Contributing::                Your help needed!
* Acknowledgments::             Thanks!
* Resources::
* GNU Free Documentation License::  The license of this manual.
* Concept Index::               Concepts.
* Programming Index::           Data types, functions, and variables.

@detailmenu
 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---

Software Freedom

* Reproducible Builds::         Reproducibility and free software.
* Bootstrappable Builds::       The freedom to build a software without binary seed.
* Full Source Bootstrap::       Software dependencies worthy of GNU.

Installation

* Regular Requirements::        Software needed to build and run Mes.
* Bootstrap Requirements::      Software needed to bootstrap Mes.
* Running the Test Suites::     Testing Mes.

Bootstrapping

* The Mes Bootstrap Process::   How Mes will make you yogurt from pure milk.
* Invoking Mes::                Running Mes, a minimalist Guile lookalike.
* Invoking MesCC::              Running the MesCC bootstrap compiler.
* Invoking mesar::

Invoking Mes

* Environment Variables::       If the bits won't change, change their habitat.

Invoking MesCC

* MesCC Environment Variables::  There's no NIX like POSIX.

Contributing

* Building from Git::           The latest and greatest.
* Running Mes From the Source Tree::  Hacker tricks.
* Porting GNU Mes::             Teach Mes about your platform.
* The Perfect Setup::           The right tools.
* Coding Style::                Hygiene of the contributor.
* Submitting Patches::          Share your work.

@end detailmenu
@end menu

@c *********************************************************************
@node Introduction
@chapter Introduction

@quotation
These were “Maxwell’s Equations of Software!”

@author Alan Kay
@end quotation

The purpose of GNU Mes@footnote{``Mes'' is an acronym for the Maxwell
Equations of Software.} is to help create a computer operating system
that we can trust.

Mes consists of a mutual self-hosting Scheme interpreter written in C
and a Nyacc-based (see @pxref{NYACC User's Guide,,, nyacc-ug, NYACC
User's Guide}) C compiler written in Scheme.  The Scheme interpreter
@file{mes.c} is about 5000LOC of restricted C and intended to be
bootstrappable using a very simple C compiler.

If we want to trust our computers to do what we instructed them to do
then we need to be able to inspect all instructions---all
softwares---that we have given it to run.

@section Software Freedom
@cindex purpose
The four essential Freedoms of Software are at the core of our GNU
community.  Quoting the GNU philosophy@footnote{The four essential
freedoms @url{https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html}}

@quotation
A program is free software if the program's users have the four
essential freedoms:

@enumerate 0
@item
    The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0).

@item
    The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does
    your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is
    a precondition for this.

@item
    The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others (freedom
    2).

@item
    The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others
    (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance
    to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a
    precondition for this.
@end enumerate
@end quotation

A computer operating system that respects the user's freedom is one
essential ingredient for building a reliable, trustable computing
system.  There are about a dozen general purpose operating systems that
can be trusted in this way, see
@url{https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html, Free Distributions}.
For all softwares on such a system we have the full source code and
build recipes available.

@c The Free System Distribution Guidelines (GNU FSDG)@footnote{Examples of
@c free operating systems are GNU Guix, GNU Parabola and Trisquel, see
@c https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html}
@c can serve as help to create such a system

So we have access to all the software, we have studied it, possibly
modified it, then we built it and we installed it on a computer or some
device or appliance.  How can we trust that when we run the program we
are indeed running the untainted product of the source code that we
studied?  Unless we are certain of this we cannot really enjoy
Freedom 1.

@menu
* Reproducible Builds::         Reproducibility and free software.
* Bootstrappable Builds::       The freedom to build a software without binary seed.
* Full Source Bootstrap::       Software dependencies worthy of GNU.
@end menu

@node Reproducible Builds
@section Reproducible Builds

The current Reproducible Builds effort incubated in the Debian
project@footnote{@url{http://debian.org, The Debian Project}} and was
organized by Lunar.  Quoting the Reproducible Builds
website@footnote{@url{https://reproducible-builds.org/,Reproducible
Builds}}

@quotation
A build is reproducible if given the same source code, build environment
and build instructions, any party can recreate bit-by-bit identical
copies of all specified artifacts.
@end quotation

@subsection Can we trust our freedom?

Now consider the opposite, that a second build of a piece of source code
produces a different binary program.  Upon further investigation we
might find that the only difference is probably harmless: a timestamp
that was embedded in the binary, or perhaps the name of the user that
built it or directory it was built in.  Such investigations can be
nontrivial and are highly unpractical.  And what if the binary
difference is not so trivial, cannot be easily accounted for?

A piece of software that cannot be built bit-by-bit reproducible is
probably not a good community member in the world of software freedom.
We think the importance of reproducibility should not be underestimated
largely because failing that precondition makes justifable trust in
binaries provided suspect at best and downright dangerous in reality.

It becomes clear that a bit-by-bit reproducible build of all our
sofwares is essential if we value our Freedom 1.

@subsection An Old Idea

The idea of reproducible builds is not very new.  It was implemented for
GNU tools in the early 1990s (which we learned, much later in 2017).  In
the Debian world it was mentioned first in 2000 and then more explicitly
in 2007 on
debian-devel@footnote{@url{https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2007/09/msg00746.html,Martin Uecker on debian-devel on bit-reproducibility}}

@quotation
I think it would be really cool if the Debian policy required that
packages could be rebuild bit-identical from source.

@author Martin Uecker
@end quotation

@node Bootstrappable Builds
@section Bootstrappable Builds

Software distributions that take reproducible builds seriously are
currently shipping well over 90% reproducible packages.

That a package builds bit-by-bit reproducibly however is not enough to
guarantee Freedom 1.  There is another factor that is often overlooked:
opaque ascii or binary @emph{seeds} that are injected during build
time.  Yes, a package may build reproduciblly from all inspectable
sourcess...but what functionality is programmed in the opaque seed?

@subsection Bootstrap Binaries
Possibly one of the most harmless, but certainly by far the biggest
binary seed that all software distributions inject are the so called
@emph{bootstrap binaries}.  Bootstrap binaries are the initial binary
seeds that are used to start building the distribution.

The GNU Guix operating system has a relatively small closure of
bootstrap binaries: GNU binutils, GNU gcc, GNU Libc, GNU Guile, and
``Static binaries'' (think: bash, bzip2, coreutils, gawk, grep, gzip,
patch, sed, tar, xz).

@example
$ du -schx $(readlink $(guix build bootstrap-tarballs)/*)
2.1M	/gnu/store/9623n4bq6iq5c8cwwdq99qb7d0xj93ym-binutils-static-stripped-tarball-2.28.1/binutils-static-stripped-2.28.1-x86_64-linux.tar.xz
18M	/gnu/store/437xwygmmwwpkddcyy1qvjcv4hak89pb-gcc-stripped-tarball-5.5.0/gcc-stripped-5.5.0-x86_64-linux.tar.xz
1.8M	/gnu/store/55ccx18a0d1x5y6a575jf1yr0ywizvdg-glibc-stripped-tarball-2.26.105-g0890d5379c/glibc-stripped-2.26.105-g0890d5379c-x86_64-linux.tar.xz
5.7M	/gnu/store/bqf0ajclbvnbm0a46819f30804y3ilx0-guile-static-stripped-tarball-2.2.3/guile-static-stripped-2.2.3-x86_64-linux.tar.xz
5.8M	/gnu/store/j8yzjmh9sy4gbdfwjrhw46zca43aah6x-static-binaries-tarball-0/static-binaries-0-x86_64-linux.tar.xz
33M	total
@end example

only a 33MB download that unpacks to 252BM of opaque binaries, that we
most probably have the source of, shall we review these together? ;-)

@example
$ for i in $(readlink $(guix build bootstrap-tarballs)/*);\
  do sudo tar xf $i; done
$ du -schx *
130M	bin
13M	include
54M	lib
51M	libexec
5.2M	share
252M	total
@end example

@node Full Source Bootstrap
@section  Full Source Bootstrap

There is an obvious solution: we cannot allow any binary seeds in our
software stack.  Not even in the bootstrap binaries.  Maybe that is a
bit too strong: we want to have the absolute minimum of binary seeds and
all binary seeds need to be inspectable and must be reviewed.  How big
would the absolute minimal set be?

@subsection The Magical Self-Hosting Hex Assembler

June 2016 I learnt about
@url{https://github.com/oriansj/stage0/,Stage0}.  Jeremiah Orians
created @file{hex0} a ~500 byte self-hosting hex assembler.  The source
code is well documented and the binary is the exact mirror of the source
code.  I was inspired.

Here is an example of what the @file{hex0} program looks like; the start
of the @var{hex} function

@example
00000060: 4883 f830 7c6f 4883 f83a 7c5a 4883 f841  H..0|oH..:|ZH..A
@dots{}
000000d0: 48c7 c0ff ffff ffc3 0000 0000 0000 0000  H...............
000000e0: 4883 e830 c300 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000  H..0............
@end example

All computer programs look like this: an opaque list of computer codes.
The initial programs that we take for granted---the bootstrap
binaries---are about 250MB of such numbers: think 250,000 pages full of
numbers.

Most computers work pretty well so apparently there is not a pressing
need to inspect and study all of these codes.  At the same time it is
tricky to fully trust@footnote{ Ken Thompson's 1984 Turing award
acceptance speech
@url{http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~ganger/712.fall02/papers/p761-thompson.pdf,
Reflections on Trusting Tust}.} a computer that was bootstrapped in this
way.

Here is what the source code of the @file{hex0} assembler looks like

@example
## function: hex
48 83 f8 30                # cmp $0x30,%rax
7c 6f                      # jl 6000f3 <ascii_other>
48 83 f8 3a                # cmp $0x3a,%rax
7c 5a                      # jl 6000e4 <ascii_num>
48 83 f8 41                # cmp $0x41,%rax
@dots{}
## function: ascii_other
48 c7 c0 ff ff ff ff       # mov $0xffffffffffffffff,%rax
c3                         # ret
@dots{}
## function: ascii_num
48 83 e8 30                # sub $0x30,%rax
c3                         # ret
@end example

While it may be hard to understand what this piece of the program does,
it should be possible for anyone to verify that the computer codes above
correspond to the source code with comments.

One step beyond these annotated codes is Assembly language.  To write a
program in Assembly, you only need to provide the instructions; the
codes are computed by the @file{assembler} program.

@example
hex:
	# deal all ascii less than 0
	cmp $48, %rax
	jl ascii_other
	# deal with 0-9
	cmp $58, %rax
	jl ascii_num
@dots{}
ascii_other:
	mov $-1, %rax
	ret
ascii_num:
	sub $48, %rax
	ret
@end example

More readable still, a similar program text in the C programming language.

@example
int
hex (int c)
@{
  if (c >= '0' && c <= '9')
    return c - 48;
@dots{}
@}
@end example

What if we could bootstrap our entire system from only this one
@file{hex0} assembler binary seed?  We would only ever need to inspect
these 500 bytes of computer codes.  Every@footnote{Some program
languages have become very hard or practically impossible to bootstrap.
Instead of depending on a simple language such as C, they depend on a
recent version of itself, or on other binary or ASCII seeds, on other
recent programs written in that language, or even on manual
intervention.  Programs written in a language that cannot be
bootstrapped can still run on our systems, but cannot enjoy any of the
trust we intend to create.} later program is written in a more friendly
programming language: Assembly, C, @dots{}  Scheme.

Inspecting all these programs is a lot of work, but it can certainly be
done.  We might be able to create a fully inspectable path from almost
nothing to all of the programs that our computer runs.  Something that
seemed to be an impossible dream is suddenly starting to look like
``just a couple years of work''.

@subsection LISP as Maxwell's Equations of Software

As fate would have it, I stumbled upon this
@url{https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1039523, interview with Alan
Kay}, where he shares a revelation he had when reading John McCarthy's
@url{http://www.softwarepreservation.org/projects/LISP/book/LISP%201.5%20Programmers%20Manual.pdf,
LISP-1.5} manual:

@quotation
that was the big revelation to me @dots{} when I finally understood that
the half page of code on the bottom of page 13 of the Lisp 1.5 manual
was Lisp in itself.  These were “Maxwell’s Equations of Software!”  This
is the whole world of programming in a few lines that I can put my hand
over.

@author Alan Kay
@end quotation

Our starting point is @file{hex0}, a 500 byte hex assembler and we need
to somehow close the gap to building the bootstrap binaries, esp. GNU
Gcc and the GNU C Library.  What better way to do that than by
leveraging the powers of LISP?

GNU Mes is a Scheme@footnote{Scheme is a modern LISP} interpreter that
will be indirectly bootstrapped from @file{hex0} and that wields the
magical powers of LISP to close the bootstrap gap, asserting we can
enjoy software Freedom 1.

@c *********************************************************************
@node Installation
@chapter Installation

@cindex installing Mes
Mes is available for download from its website at
@url{http://www.gnu.org/pub/gnu/mes/}.  This section describes the
software requirements of Mes, as well as how to install it and get ready
to use it.


@menu
* Regular Requirements::        Software needed to build and run Mes.
* Bootstrap Requirements::      Software needed to bootstrap Mes.
* Running the Test Suites::     Testing Mes.
@end menu

@node Regular Requirements
@section Regular Requirements

This section lists requirements when building Mes from source.  The
build procedure for Mes is the same as for other GNU software, and is
not covered here.  Please see the files @file{README} and @file{INSTALL}
in the Mes source tree for additional details.

GNU Mes depends on the following packages:

@itemize
@item @url{http://gnu.org/software/guile/, GNU Guile}, version 2.0.13 or
later, including 2.2.x;
@item @url{http://www.gnu.org/software/make/, GNU Make}.
@item @url{https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/nyacc/, NYACC},  0.86.0 is known to work.
@item @url{http://gcc.gnu.org, GCC's gcc}, version 2.95.3 or later.
@end itemize

The following dependencies are optional:

@itemize
@item
Installing @url{https://github.com/oriansj/mescc-tools/, mescc-tools},
version 0.5 or later, will allow you to have MesCC assemble and link.
@end itemize

@cindex Guile, compatibility
Mes is compatible with GNU Guile, so it is possible to share the same
Scheme code between both.  Of course, Mes only supports the minimal
subset of R5RS and Guile extensions to run MesCC.

@node Bootstrap Requirements
@section Bootstrap Requirements

This section lists requirements when building Mes as a bootstrap
package.  The bootstrap build procedure for Mes is similar to building
GNU software and goes like this

@example
export prefix=/usr/local # for example
export MES_SEED=../mes   # for example
# optionally set some other environment variables
sh build.sh
sh check.sh
sh install.sh
@end example

See @file{build.sh} for inspiration on what environment variables to
set.

Bootstrapping Mes depends on the following packages:

@itemize
@item a POSIX-compatible shell
@item @url{https://github.com/oriansj/mescc-tools/, mescc-tools}, version 0.5 or later.
@item @url{http://gitlab.com/janneke/mes-seed/, mes-seed}, version 0.17 or later.
@end itemize

@node Running the Test Suites
@section Running the Test Suites

@cindex test suites
After a successful @command{configure} and @code{make} run, it is a good
idea to run the test suites.

@example
make check
@end example

Run Mes Scheme language semantics tests (@file{scaffold/boot}) only

@example
build-aux/check-boot.sh
@end example

Run a single Mes boot test

@example
MES_BOOT=scaffold/boot/00-zero.scm src/mes
@end example

Run a single Mes Scheme test

@example
./pre-inst-env tests/boot.test
MES=guile ./pre-inst-env tests/boot.test
@end example

Run MesCC tests only

@example
build-aux/check-mescc.sh
@end example

Run a single MesCC test

@example
CC=gcc CC32=i686-unknown-linux-gnu-gcc MES=guile \
  build-aux/test.sh scaffold/tests/00-exit-0
@end example

@node Bootstrapping
@chapter Bootstrapping

@quotation
Recipe for yogurt: Add yogurt to milk.

@author Anonymous
@end quotation

The bootstrap problem we have set out to solve is that none of our
modern software distributions, and Guix in particular, can be created
all from source code.  In addition to the carefully signed source code
of all the programs (the `milk') an opaque binary seed (the `yogurt') is
injected as an essential dependency.

Why would this be a problem, I hear you ask?  This is how it is done, we
always did it this way, everyone does it like this!  Indeed, a popular
way of handling the bootstrapping issue is by ignoring it.

@quotation
Your compiler becoming self-hosting@dots{}a language creator's wet
dream.

@author PFH
@end quotation

It seems that writing a self-hosting compiler is considered to be a
language creator's ultimate goal.  It means that their language and
compiler have become powerful enough to not depend on a pre-exising
language that possibly is---but certainly was until now---more
powerful; it feels like passing the rite to adulthood.

When you see the irony, you grasp what our bootstrapping effort means in
practice.  Creating bootstrappable software is not hard; actually most
softwares' first releases are bootstrappable.  The problem of
bootstrapping is not a technical one, it is a lack of awareness and
responsibility.

@menu
* The Mes Bootstrap Process::   How Mes will make you yogurt from pure milk.
* Invoking Mes::                Running Mes, a minimalist Guile lookalike.
* Invoking MesCC::              Running the MesCC bootstrap compiler.
* Invoking mesar::
@end menu

@node The Mes Bootstrap Process
@section The Mes Bootstrap Process

The Mes full source bootstrap process@footnote{TBH, the current state of
affairs demands to label this a `Reduced Binary Seed bootstrap'} is
currently being developed in Guix@footnote{See
@file{gnu/packages/commencement.scm} in the @var{core-updates} branch in Guix
git
@url{http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/guix.git/tree/gnu/packages/mes.scm?h=wip-bootstrap}}.
In it's intiial form it is only available for x86-linux.

Currently, it goes like this:

@verbatim
mescc-tools-source + mescc-tools-seed => mescc-tools

mes-source + mescc-tools + mescc-seed => mes

tcc-source + mes + tinycc-seed => tcc

binutils-source + mes + tcc => binutils0

gcc-source + tcc + binutils0 => gcc-core

glibc-source + kernel-headers-source + binutils0 + gcc => glibc0

binutils-source + binutils0 + gcc + glibc => binutils

gcc-source + binutils + gcc-core + glibc => gcc

glibc-source + binutils + gcc + glibc0 => glibc
@end verbatim

@c This graph is generated from wip-bootstrap, doing:

@c ~/src/guix/core-updates/pre-inst-env guix graph --type=bag -e '(@@ (gnu packages commencement) gcc-mesboot)' > doc/images/gcc-mesboot-graph.dot
@c dot -T png doc/images/gcc-mesboot-graph.dot > doc/images/gcc-mesboot-graph.png

Here's a generated dependency diagram to for the final bootstrap gcc
that builds the rest of Guix.

@image{images/gcc-mesboot-graph,2in,,Reference graph of the gcc-mesboot}

Work is ongoing to remove these binary seeds that were intentionally
injected by our own doing as temporary shortcut
@example
mescc-tools-seed, mes-seed, tinycc-seed
@end example

For now, these additional non-bootstrapped dependencies (i.e., binary
seeds) are taken for granted

@example
BOOTSTRAP-GUILE, bash, bzip2, coreutils, gawk, grep, gzip, patch, sed,
tar, xz
@end example

Although we think these are less essential and thus less interesting
than the GNU toolchain triplet that we focussed on initially, our next
priority is to eleminate these one by one.

@node Invoking Mes
@section Invoking Mes

@cindex repl
The @command{mes} command is the Scheme interpreter whose prime
directive is to run the @command{MesCC} program.

For convenience and testing purposes, @command{mes} tries to mimic
Guile.

@example
mes @var{option}@dots{} @file{FILE}@dots{}
@end example

The @var{option}s can be among the following:

@table @code

@item -s @var{script} @var{arg}@dots{}
@cindex script mode
By default, Mes will read a file named on the command line as a script.
Any command-line arguments @var{arg}@dots{} following @var{script}
become the script's arguments; the @code{command-line} function returns
a list of strings of the form @code{(@var{script} @var{arg}@dots{})}.

Scripts are read and evaluated as Scheme source code just as the
@code{load} function would.  After loading @var{script}, Mes exits.

@item -c @var{expr} @var{arg}@dots{}
@cindex evaluate expression, command-line argument
Evaluate @var{expr} as Scheme code, and then exit.  Any command-line
arguments @var{arg}@dots{}) following @var{expr} become command-line
arguments; the @code{command-line} function returns a list of strings of
the form @code{(@var{guile} @var{arg}@dots{})}, where @var{mes} is the
path of the Mes executable.

@item -- @var{arg}@dots{}
Run interactively, prompting the user for expressions and evaluating
them.  Any command-line arguments @var{arg}@dots{} following the
@option{--} become command-line arguments for the interactive session;
the @code{command-line} function returns a list of strings of the form
@code{(@var{guile} @var{arg}@dots{})}, where @var{mes} is the path of the
Mes executable.

@item -L,--load-path=@var{directory}
Add @var{directory} to the front of Mes module load path.  The given
directories are searched in the order given on the command line and
before any directories in the @env{GUILE_LOAD_PATH} environment
variable.

@item -C,--compiled-path=@var{directory}
Accepted and ignored for Guile compatibility.

@item ---dump
dump binary program to stdout

@item -l @var{file}
Load Scheme source code from @var{file}, and continue processing the
command line.

@item -e,--main=@var{function}
Make @var{function} the @dfn{entry point} of the script.  After loading
the script file (with @option{-s}) or evaluating the expression (with
@option{-c}), apply @var{function} to a list containing the program name
and the command-line arguments---the list provided by the
@code{command-line} function.

@item -h@r{, }--help
Display help on invoking Mes, and then exit.

@item ---load
load binary program [module/mes/boot-0.32-mo]

@item -v@r{, }--version
Display the current version of Mes, and then exit.

@end table

@menu
* Environment Variables::       If the bits won't change, change their habitat.
@end menu

@node Environment Variables
@subsection Environment Variables
@cindex environment variables
@cindex shell
@cindex initialization

@c Hmm, I expected this paragraph in the Guix manual?
Here are the environment variables (see @pxref{Environment Variables,,,
guile, Guile Reference}) that affect the run-time behavior of
Mes:

@table @env
@item MES_BOOT
@vindex MES_BOOT

Set @env{MES_BOOT} to change the initial Scheme program that Mes runs.

@item MES_ARENA
@vindex MES_ARENA

The initial size of the arena @pxref{5.3,,, sicp, SICP} in cells.  Default: 20,000.

@item MES_MAX_ARENA
@vindex MES_MAX_ARENA

The maximum size of the arena in cells.  Default: 100,000,000.

@item MES_MAX_STRING
@vindex MES_MAX_STRING

The maximum size of a string.  Default: 524,288.

@item MES_DEBUG
@vindex MES_DEBUG

@enumerate
@item
  Informational:
@itemize
@item MODULEDIR
@item included SCM modules and sources
@item result of program
@item gc stats at exit
@end itemize
@item
opened files

@item
runtime gc stats

@item
detailed info
@itemize
@item parsed, expanded program
@item list of builtins
@item list of symbol
@item opened input strings
@item gc details
@end itemize

@item
usage of opened input strings
@end enumerate


@item GUILE_LOAD_PATH
@vindex GUILE_LOAD_PATH
This variable may be used to augment the path that is searched for
Scheme files when loading.  Its value should be a colon-separated list
of directories.  If it contains the special path component @code{...}
(ellipsis), then the default path is put in place of the ellipsis,
otherwise the default path is placed at the end.  The result is stored
in @code{%load-path}.

Mes uses @var{@strong{GUILE}_LOAD_PATH} for compatibility with Guile.

@end table

@node Invoking MesCC
@section Invoking MesCC

@example
mescc @var{option}@dots{} @file{FILE}@dots{}
@end example

The @var{option}s can be among the following:

@table @code

@item --align
align globals

@item --base-address=ADRRESS
use BaseAddress ADDRESS [0x1000000]

@item -c
@cindex compile
preprocess, compile and assemble only; do not link

@item -D @var{DEFINE}[=@var{VALUE}]
@cindex define DEFINE [VALUE=1]

@item -dumpmachine
@cindex arch
@cindex architecture
@cindex machine
display the compiler's target processor

@item -E
preprocess only; do not compile, assemble or link

@item -g
add @command{blood-elf} debug info

This enables GDB setting breakpoints on function names, and to have the
GDB backtrace command to show the function call stack.

@item -h, --help
display this help and exit

@item -I DIR
append DIR to include path

@item -L DIR
append DIR to library path

@item -l LIBNAME
link with LIBNAME

@item -m BITS
compile for BITS bits [32]

@item -O LEVEL
use optimizing LEVEL

@item -o FILE
write output to FILE

@item -S
preprocess and compile only; do not assemble or link

@item --std=STANDARD
assume that the input sources are for STANDARD

@item -V,--version
display version and exit

@item -w,--write=TYPE
dump Nyacc AST using TYPE @{pretty-print,write@}

@item -x LANGUAGE
specify LANGUAGE of the following input files

@end table

@menu
* MesCC Environment Variables::  There's no NIX like POSIX.
@end menu

@node MesCC Environment Variables
@subsection MesCC Environment Variables

@table @env
@item MES
@vindex MES

Setting @env{MES} to a mes-compatible Scheme will run MesCC using that
@example
MES=guile mescc -c scaffold/main.c
@end example

See, now Guile has become compatible with Mes, instead of the other way
around ;-)

@item C_INCLUDE_PATH
@vindex C_INCLUDE_PATH

@item LIBRARY_PATH
@vindex LIBRARY_PATH

@item NYACC_DEBUG
@vindex NYACC_DEBUG

Setting @env{NYACC_DEBUG} makes nyacc print names of function
during the parsing phase.

@end table

@node Invoking mesar
@section Invoking mesar

@example
mesar @var{option}@dots{} @var{command} @file{ARCHIVE-FILE} @file{FILE}@dots{}
@end example

The @var{command} is ignored for compatibility with @file{ar}

@example
  r[ab][f][u]  - replace existing or insert new file(s) into the archive
  [c]          - do not warn if the library had to be created
  [D]          - use zero for timestamps and uids/gids (default)
@end example

and assumed to be @var{crD}.

The @var{option}s can be among the following:

@table @code

@item -h, --help
display this help and exit

@item -V,--version
display version and exit

@end table

@c *********************************************************************
@node Contributing
@chapter Contributing

@menu
* Building from Git::           The latest and greatest.
* Running Mes From the Source Tree::  Hacker tricks.
* Porting GNU Mes::             Teach Mes about your platform.
* The Perfect Setup::           The right tools.
* Coding Style::                Hygiene of the contributor.
* Submitting Patches::          Share your work.
@end menu

@node Building from Git
@section Building from Git

If you want to hack GNU Mes itself, it is recommended to use the latest
version from the Git repository:

@example
git clone git://git.savannah.gnu.org/mes.git
@end example

The easiest way to set up a development environment for Mes is, of
course, by using Guix!  The following command starts a new shell where
all the dependencies and appropriate environment variables are set up to
hack on Mes:

@example
guix environment -l .guix.scm
@end example

Finally, you have to invoke @code{make check} to run tests
(@pxref{Running the Test Suites}).  If anything fails, take a look at
installation instructions (@pxref{Installation}) or send a message to
the @email{bug-mes@@gnu.org} mailing list.

@node Running Mes From the Source Tree
@section Running Mes From the Source Tree

First, you need to have an environment with all the dependencies
available (@pxref{Building from Git}), and then simply prefix each
command by @command{./pre-inst-env} (the @file{pre-inst-env} script
lives in the top build tree of Mes).

@node Porting GNU Mes
@section Porting GNU Mes

Mes was written for x86-linux.  A 64 bit (x86_64) is almost done, only a
few bugs remain.  The Guix bootstrap for x86_64 uses x86 mes and that is
not expected to change.

An ARM (armv4/armv7l) linux port is underway.  A port to GNU/Hurd
(x86-gnu) is also underway.

Initial scaffold, built by @file{build-aux/build-scaffold.sh}:
@example
  @file{lib/x86-mes-gcc/exit-42.S}
  @file{lib/x86-mes/elf32-0exit-42.hex2}
  @file{lib/x86-mes/elf32-body-exit-42.hex2}

  @file{lib/x86-mes-gcc/hello-mes.S}
  @file{lib/x86-mes/elf32-0hello-mes.hex2}
  @file{lib/x86-mes/elf32-body-hello-mes.hex2}
@end example

Porting MesCC:
@example
  @file{lib/x86-mes/x86.M1}

  @file{module/mescc/mescc.scm}
  @file{module/mescc/i386/as.scm}
  @file{module/mescc/i386/info.scm}

  @file{mes/module/mescc/i386/as.mes}
  @file{mes/module/mescc/i386/info.mes}
@end example

@node The Perfect Setup
@section The Perfect Setup

The Perfect Setup to hack on Mes is basically the perfect setup used
for Guile hacking (@pxref{Using Guile in Emacs,,, guile, Guile Reference
Manual}).  First, you need more than an editor, you need
@url{http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs, Emacs}, empowered by the
wonderful @url{http://nongnu.org/geiser/, Geiser}.

Geiser allows for interactive and incremental development from within
Emacs: code compilation and evaluation from within buffers, access to
on-line documentation (docstrings), context-sensitive completion,
@kbd{M-.} to jump to an object definition, a REPL to try out your code,
and more (@pxref{Introduction,,, geiser, Geiser User Manual}).

@node Coding Style
@section Coding Style

In general our code follows the GNU Coding Standards (@pxref{Top,,,
standards, GNU Coding Standards}).  However, they do not say much about
Scheme, so here are some additional rules.

@subsection Programming Paradigm

Scheme code in Mes is written in a purely functional style.

@subsection Formatting Code

@cindex formatting code
@cindex coding style
When writing Scheme code, we follow common wisdom among Scheme
programmers.  In general, we follow the
@url{http://mumble.net/~campbell/scheme/style.txt, Riastradh's Lisp
Style Rules}.  This document happens to describe the conventions mostly
used in Guile’s code too.  It is very thoughtful and well written, so
please do read it.

@cindex indentation, of code
@cindex formatting, of code
If you do not use Emacs, please make sure to let your editor knows these
rules.

Additionally, in Mes we prefer to format @code{if} statements like this
@example
(if foo? trivial-then
    (let ((bar (the-longer @dots{})))
      more-complicated
      @dots{}
      else))
@end example

@node Submitting Patches
@section Submitting Patches

Development is done using the Git distributed version control system.
Thus, access to the repository is not strictly necessary.  We welcome
contributions in the form of patches as produced by @code{git
format-patch} sent to the @email{guix-patches@@gnu.org} mailing list.

Please write commit logs in the ChangeLog format (@pxref{Change Logs,,,
standards, GNU Coding Standards}); you can check the commit history for
examples.

@subsection Reporting Bugs

Encountering a problem or bug can be very frustrating for you as a user
or potential contributor.  For us as Mes maintainers, the preferred bug
report includes a beautiful and tested patch that we can integrate
without any effort.

However, please don't let our preference stop you from reporting a bug.
There's one thing @emph{much} worse for us than getting a bug report
without a patch: Reading a complaint or rant online about your
frustrations and how our work sucks, without having heard directly what
you experienced.

So if you report a problem, will it be fixed?  And @strong{when}?  The
most honest answer is: It depends.  Let's curry that informationless
honesty with a more helpful and more blunt reminder of a mantra of free
software:

@quotation
@table @strong
@item Q:
When will it be finished?

@item A:
It will be ready sooner if you help.
@end table

@author Richard Stallman
@end quotation

@cindex contact, irc, mailing list
Join us on @code{#bootstrappable} on the Freenode IRC network or on
@email{guix-devel@@gnu.org} to share your experience---good or bad.

@cindex bug, bug report, reporting a bug
Please send bug reports with full details to @email{bug-mes@@gnu.org}.

@c *********************************************************************
@node Acknowledgments
@chapter Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the following people for their help: Jeremiah
Orians, Peter de Wachter, rain1, Ricardo Wurmus, Rutger van Beusekom.

We also thank Ludovic Courtès for creating GNU Guix and making the
bootstrap problem so painfully visible, John McCarthy for creating
LISP-1.5 and Alan Kay for their inspiring comment on
@url{https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1039523, Page 13}.

@c *********************************************************************
@node Resources
@chapter Resources

@itemize

@item
@url{https://bootstrappable.org, Bootstrappable Builds} Minimize the
amount and size of opaque binary seeds we need to swallow.

@item
@url{https://reproducible-builds.org, Reproducible Builds}
Provide a verifiable path from source code to binary.

@item
@url{https://gitlab.com/oriansj/stage0, Stage0}
If we want, it could all start with a ~500 byte self-hosting hex
assembler.

@item
@url{https://bootstrapping.miraheze.org, Bootstrapping wiki} An amazing
collection of small/bootstrappable compilers, operating systems,
anything you need.

@item
@url{irc.freenode.net, #bootstrappable} The bootstrapping community home
at the freenode IRC network.

@item
@file{guix-devel@@gnu.org} The Guix mailing list, where it all started.
@url{https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guix-devel/, guix-devel archives}.

@end itemize

@c *********************************************************************
@node GNU Free Documentation License
@appendix GNU Free Documentation License
@cindex license, GNU Free Documentation License
@include fdl-1.3.texi

@c *********************************************************************
@node Concept Index
@unnumbered Concept Index
@printindex cp

@node Programming Index
@unnumbered Programming Index
@syncodeindex tp fn
@syncodeindex vr fn
@printindex fn

@bye

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