fix: Downgrade "running as root" error to a warning by default (#2636)

Currently, by default, rules_python immediately fails when Bazel is run
as root. The reasoning behind this involves .pyc files being generated
for hermetic toolchains when they're first used, causing cache misses;
to work around this, rules_python opts to make the toolchain
installation directory read-only, but running Bazel as root would
circumvent this. So rules_python actively detects if the current user is
root, and hard fails. This check can be disabled by the root module by
setting `python.override(ignore_root_user_error=True)`. (See more
context in the linked issues/PRs.)

This causes a reverberating effect across the Bazel ecosystem, as
rules_python is essentially a dependency of every single Bazel project
through protobuf. Effectively, any Bazel project wishing to run as root
need to add the override tag above, even if they don't have anything to
do with Python at all.

This PR changes the default value of the `ignore_root_user_error` to
True instead. Besides, it now unconditionally tries to make the
toolchain installation directory read-only, and only outputs a warning
if it's detected that the current user is root.

See previous discussions at #713, #749, #907, #1008, #1169, etc.

Fixes https://github.com/bazelbuild/rules_python/issues/1169.

---------

Co-authored-by: Richard Levasseur <rlevasseur@google.com>
4 files changed
tree: 77c43381d6e1f1e06f3611e32386dae8bf923cf1
  1. .bazelci/
  2. .bcr/
  3. .ci/
  4. .github/
  5. docs/
  6. examples/
  7. gazelle/
  8. private/
  9. python/
  10. sphinxdocs/
  11. tests/
  12. third_party/
  13. tools/
  14. .bazelignore
  15. .bazelrc
  16. .bazelversion
  17. .git-blame-ignore-revs
  18. .gitattributes
  19. .gitignore
  20. .pre-commit-config.yaml
  21. .readthedocs.yml
  22. addlicense.sh
  23. AUTHORS
  24. BUILD.bazel
  25. BZLMOD_SUPPORT.md
  26. CHANGELOG.md
  27. CONTRIBUTING.md
  28. CONTRIBUTORS
  29. DEVELOPING.md
  30. internal_dev_deps.bzl
  31. internal_dev_setup.bzl
  32. LICENSE
  33. MODULE.bazel
  34. README.md
  35. RELEASING.md
  36. version.bzl
  37. WORKSPACE
  38. WORKSPACE.bzlmod
README.md

Python Rules for Bazel

Build status

Overview

This repository is the home of the core Python rules -- py_library, py_binary, py_test, py_proto_library, and related symbols that provide the basis for Python support in Bazel. It also contains package installation rules for integrating with PyPI and other indices.

Documentation for rules_python is at https://rules-python.readthedocs.io and in the Bazel Build Encyclopedia.

Examples live in the examples directory.

The core rules are stable. Their implementation is subject to Bazel's backward compatibility policy. This repository aims to follow semantic versioning.

The Bazel community maintains this repository. Neither Google nor the Bazel team provides support for the code. However, this repository is part of the test suite used to vet new Bazel releases. See How to contribute page for information on our development workflow.

Documentation

For detailed documentation, see https://rules-python.readthedocs.io

Bzlmod support

  • Status: Beta
  • Full Feature Parity: No

See Bzlmod support for more details.