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doc: Add note on the importance of bootstrapping. 

* doc/guix.texi (Bootstrapping): Remove distinction between "regular
users" and "hackers".  Explain the importance of the question.
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Ludovic Courtès 2020-12-05 19:01:45 +01:00
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@ -32789,10 +32789,15 @@ Bootstrapping in our context refers to how the distribution gets built
``from nothing''. Remember that the build environment of a derivation ``from nothing''. Remember that the build environment of a derivation
contains nothing but its declared inputs (@pxref{Introduction}). So contains nothing but its declared inputs (@pxref{Introduction}). So
there's an obvious chicken-and-egg problem: how does the first package there's an obvious chicken-and-egg problem: how does the first package
get built? How does the first compiler get compiled? Note that this is get built? How does the first compiler get compiled?
a question of interest only to the curious hacker, not to the regular
user, so you can shamelessly skip this section if you consider yourself It is tempting to think of this question as one that only die-hard
a ``regular user''. hackers may care about. However, while the answer to that question is
technical in nature, its implications are wide-ranging. How the
distribution is bootstrapped defines the extent to which we, as
individuals and as a collective of users and hackers, can trust the
software we run. It is a central concern from the standpoint of
@emph{security} and from a @emph{user freedom} viewpoint.
@cindex bootstrap binaries @cindex bootstrap binaries
The GNU system is primarily made of C code, with libc at its core. The The GNU system is primarily made of C code, with libc at its core. The