# Phase 1.1 follow-up: local Guile build validates the FreeBSD subprocess fix

Date: 2026-04-01

## Summary

A local build of `~/repos/guile` was used to validate the previously identified FreeBSD subprocess crash.

Result:

- the packaged FreeBSD Guile (`/usr/local/bin/guile3`) still reproduces the crash
- a locally built Guile from `~/repos/guile` works correctly for:
  - `system*`
  - `spawn`
  - `open-pipe*`
- no local source patch to `~/repos/guile` was required because the local checkout already contains the upstream fix commit

The relevant upstream commit already present in `~/repos/guile` is:

- `eb828801f621d3e130b6fe88cfc4acaa69b98a03`
- subject: `Don't use posix_spawn_file_actions_addclosefrom_np with glib posix_spawn`

The tested local checkout revision was:

- `bbf2baa10f6cc8dfdd9e4ea14b503d748287a03d`

## Additional build tooling installed on FreeBSD

To build Guile from the local checkout, these packages were installed:

```sh
sudo pkg install -y autoconf automake libtool gettext-tools texinfo help2man gperf pkgconf
```

An extra FreeBSD-specific detail also mattered:

- Guile's `autogen.sh` expects GNU `m4`
- FreeBSD base `/usr/bin/m4` is not GNU `m4`
- the installed GNU version is available as `gm4`
- `autogen.sh` therefore had to be run with `M4=gm4`

## Build procedure used

A disposable build copy was created from the local repo to avoid polluting `~/repos/guile`:

```sh
git clone --shared ~/repos/guile /tmp/guile-freebsd-validate-src
```

Autotools bootstrap:

```sh
cd /tmp/guile-freebsd-validate-src
M4=gm4 ./autogen.sh
```

Configure:

```sh
cd /tmp/guile-freebsd-validate-build
env \
  M4=gm4 \
  MAKE=gmake \
  PKG_CONFIG=pkg-config \
  PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/local/libdata/pkgconfig:/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig \
  CPPFLAGS='-I/usr/local/include' \
  LDFLAGS='-L/usr/local/lib -Wl,-rpath,/usr/local/lib' \
  /tmp/guile-freebsd-validate-src/configure \
    --prefix=/tmp/guile-freebsd-validate-install \
    --with-bdw-gc=bdw-gc-threaded \
    --with-libgmp-prefix=/usr/local \
    --with-libunistring-prefix=/usr/local \
    --with-libiconv-prefix=/usr/local \
    --with-libintl-prefix=/usr/local
```

Build and install:

```sh
cd /tmp/guile-freebsd-validate-build
gmake -j4
gmake install
```

## Important validation detail: the executable must load the matching local libguile

Immediately after installation, running `/tmp/guile-freebsd-validate-install/bin/guile` without adjusting the dynamic linker path still loaded the system `libguile-3.0.so.1` from `/usr/local/lib`, so it still crashed.

This was confirmed with:

```sh
ldd /tmp/guile-freebsd-validate-install/bin/guile
```

To test the local build correctly, the process must use:

```sh
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/tmp/guile-freebsd-validate-install/lib
```

The project test harnesses were updated accordingly so that when `GUILE_BIN` points to a non-system installation, the sibling `../lib` directory is automatically prepended to `LD_LIBRARY_PATH`.

## Validation results

### 1. Packaged Guile still reproduces the problem

```sh
./tests/guile/run-subprocess-diagnostics.sh
```

Observed result:

- `system*` exits `139`
- `spawn` exits `139`
- `open-pipe*` exits `139`

### 2. Local Guile succeeds when using the matching local libguile

```sh
EXPECT_GUILE_SUBPROCESS_CRASH=0 \
GUILE_BIN=/tmp/guile-freebsd-validate-install/bin/guile \
./tests/guile/run-subprocess-diagnostics.sh
```

Observed result:

```text
system-star exit=0
spawn exit=0
open-pipe-star exit=0
Guile subprocess helpers succeeded as expected
```

### 3. The broader Phase 1.1 verification suite also passes with the local build

```sh
GUILE_BIN=/tmp/guile-freebsd-validate-install/bin/guile \
./tests/guile/run-phase1-verification.sh
```

Observed result:

- module loading: pass
- deterministic output: pass
- file I/O: pass
- process fork/wait: pass
- loopback sockets: pass
- FFI: pass
- `(guix build make-bootstrap)` import and `copy-linux-headers`: pass

## boehm-gc note

The user noted a package warning that Boehm GC is unmaintained on FreeBSD. For this specific validation step:

- the local `~/repos/bdwgc` checkout was not needed
- the packaged `boehm-gc-threaded` installation was sufficient to build and run the fixed local Guile
- no local bdwgc source patch was necessary yet

That said, the warning is worth keeping in mind as a likely future brittleness point if later Guile or Guix behavior exposes GC- or thread-related FreeBSD issues.

## Conclusion

The local build validates the earlier root-cause analysis in practice:

- the packaged Guile is broken on FreeBSD for subprocess helpers
- a newer local Guile checkout that already contains upstream commit `eb828801f...` no longer crashes
- the next Guix-on-FreeBSD work can proceed using either:
  1. a locally built fixed Guile, or
  2. a backported packaging patch carrying the same upstream fix

This clears the way to proceed into Phase 1.2 while keeping a documented workaround available on the current host.