clj repl crashing when launched and pwd is ~, otherwise from any other directory it's fine

Question

I installed clojure following instructions from
https://clojure.org/guides/getting_started#_installation_on_linux

However, when i launch the repl staying in ~, I get following

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.IllegalStateException: Attempting to call unbound fn: #'clojure.main/main

    at clojure.lang.Var$Unbound.throwArity(Var.java:45)
    at clojure.lang.AFn.invoke(AFn.java:28)
    at clojure.lang.AFn.applyToHelper(AFn.java:152)
    at clojure.lang.AFn.applyTo(AFn.java:144)
    at clojure.lang.Var.applyTo(Var.java:705)
    at clojure.main.main(main.java:40)

And if i change the directory to any other location, it runs ok

:~/src$ clj
Clojure 1.10.3
user=>

My OS is a Debian Buster (Minimal)... I tried looking up, but to no avail...

Not sure if the following is of any help...

:~$ mvn --version
Apache Maven 3.6.0
Maven home: /usr/share/maven
Java version: 11.0.11, vendor: Debian, runtime: /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-amd64
Default locale: en_IN, platform encoding: UTF-8
OS name: "linux", version: "4.19.0-17-amd64", arch: "amd64", family: "unix"

:~$ java --version
openjdk 11.0.11 2021-04-20
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 11.0.11+9-post-Debian-1deb10u1)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 11.0.11+9-post-Debian-1deb10u1, mixed mode, sharing)

Answer 1

Do you have a src folder in ~? If so, what it is in it? (I'm wondering if you have src/user.clj and something in that script is causing the crash)

Comments

:~$ ls -al src/
total 48
drwxr-xr-x 12 nalin nalin 4096 Jul 11 16:15 .
drwxr-xr-x 29 nalin nalin 4096 Jul 15 11:32 ..
drwxr-xr-x  2 nalin nalin 4096 Jul 14 17:23 clojure
drwxr-xr-x  3 nalin nalin 4096 Jun 27 20:44 elm
drwxr-xr-x  2 nalin nalin 4096 Jul 11 21:36 erlang
drwxr-xr-x  2 nalin nalin 4096 Jun 30 14:51 haskell
drwxr-xr-x 12 nalin nalin 4096 Jul  9 23:03 klipse
drwxr-xr-x  4 nalin nalin 4096 Feb 14 22:19 lfe
drwxr-xr-x  2 nalin nalin 4096 Mar 25 14:43 lisp
drwxr-xr-x  5 nalin nalin 4096 Jul  3 17:42 mongodb
drwxr-xr-x  2 nalin nalin 4096 Jul 10 20:58 ocaml
drwxr-xr-x  3 nalin nalin 4096 Jul 13 20:53 sml

---

:~$ ls -al /usr/local/lib/clojure/
total 20
drwxr-xr-x  3 root root 4096 Jul 13 18:09 .
drwxr-xr-x 15 root root 4096 Jul  9 22:45 ..
-rw-r--r--  1 root root  458 Jul 13 18:09 deps.edn
-rw-r--r--  1 root root 1489 Jul 13 18:09 example-deps.edn
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root 4096 Jul 13 18:09 libexec

---

:~$ ls -al /usr/local/lib/clojure/libexec/
total 14596
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root     4096 Jul 13 18:09 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root     4096 Jul 13 18:09 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 14932202 Jul 13 18:09 clojure-tools-1.10.3.855.jar
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root     2955 Jul 13 18:09 exec.jar

---

This one may help understand... i hope.... And if you do, help me also understand...

:~$ su
Password:
root@ranjan-t410:/home/nalin# cd ~
root@ranjan-t410:~# clj
Clojure 1.10.3
user=>
root@ranjan-t410:~# cd /home/nalin/
root@ranjan-t410:/home/nalin# clj
root@ranjan-t410:/home/nalin#

---

What's in src/clojure? That's what is causing you problems.

By default, clj/clojure will look in src for namespaces, and since you have src/clojure, that will correspond to a namespace that begins with clojure.something.

Rename that src folder to source, and I bet your problem with go away (you may need to use clj -Sforce to get a REPL, to force the classpath cache etc to be recomputed).

---

I keep my practices under ~/src.. so mostly ~/src/clojure will have my clojure related practice programs..

And you are right... I renamed "src" to "source" and indeed a REPL is on...

:~$ clj
Clojure 1.10.3
user=>

Kudos....

Just a little curiosity though, can this happen in any directory which has a "src" folder in it and I try to launch clj in that directory?? I have asked the same question on stackoverflow, and would like to link your reply as answer there...

---

Well, it can happen wherever you have a src folder and there's a path to a Clojure source file in it that corresponds to a namespace that you are trying to run.

For example, if you had src/elm/test.clj then if you started a REPL and did (require '[elm.test]) Clojure would try to load that file.

If you had src/haskell/project/Stuff.hs and you started a REPL and tried (require '[haskell.project.foo]) Clojure would look for a file called foo.clj (or foo.cljc) in src/haskell/project/

This is because Clojure projects normally have a src folder (and, often, a test folder -- but you generally add that to your path via an alias, e.g., clj -A:test and the :test alias will have :extra-paths ["test"] -- and now Clojure will look in both the src AND test folders.

---

Something to bear in mind... Thanks a lot..

PS:- https://stackoverflow.com/questions/68374421/clj-repl-crashing-when-launched-and-pwd-is/68389626#68389626

Answer 2

Hello,

• Can you provide the output of which clj in both ~ directory and ~/src directory ?

• Can you provide the output of env ?

Comments

:~$ which clj
/usr/local/bin/clj

:~/src$ which clj
/usr/local/bin/clj


******* output of env in ~ **********************
SHELL=/bin/bash
WINDOWID=6291469
XTERM_VERSION=XTerm(344)
LANGUAGE=en_IN:en
XTERM_SHELL=/bin/bash
XDG_SEAT=seat0
PWD=/home/nalin
LOGNAME=nalin
XDG_SESSION_TYPE=tty
XAUTHORITY=/home/nalin/.Xauthority
WINDOWPATH=1
HOME=/home/nalin
LANG=en_IN
LS_COLORS=rs=0:di=01;34:ln=01;36:mh=00:pi=40;33:so=01;35:do=01;35:bd=40;33;01:cd=40;33;01:or=40;31;01:mi=00:su=37;41:sg=30;43:ca=30;41:tw=30;42:ow=34;42:st=37;44:ex=01;32:*.tar=01;31:*.tgz=01;31:*.arc=01;31:*.arj=01;31:*.taz=01;31:*.lha=01;31:*.lz4=01;31:*.lzh=01;31:*.lzma=01;31:*.tlz=01;31:*.txz=01;31:*.tzo=01;31:*.t7z=01;31:*.zip=01;31:*.z=01;31:*.dz=01;31:*.gz=01;31:*.lrz=01;31:*.lz=01;31:*.lzo=01;31:*.xz=01;31:*.zst=01;31:*.tzst=01;31:*.bz2=01;31:*.bz=01;31:*.tbz=01;31:*.tbz2=01;31:*.tz=01;31:*.deb=01;31:*.rpm=01;31:*.jar=01;31:*.war=01;31:*.ear=01;31:*.sar=01;31:*.rar=01;31:*.alz=01;31:*.ace=01;31:*.zoo=01;31:*.cpio=01;31:*.7z=01;31:*.rz=01;31:*.cab=01;31:*.wim=01;31:*.swm=01;31:*.dwm=01;31:*.esd=01;31:*.jpg=01;35:*.jpeg=01;35:*.mjpg=01;35:*.mjpeg=01;35:*.gif=01;35:*.bmp=01;35:*.pbm=01;35:*.pgm=01;35:*.ppm=01;35:*.tga=01;35:*.xbm=01;35:*.xpm=01;35:*.tif=01;35:*.tiff=01;35:*.png=01;35:*.svg=01;35:*.svgz=01;35:*.mng=01;35:*.pcx=01;35:*.mov=01;35:*.mpg=01;35:*.mpeg=01;35:*.m2v=01;35:*.mkv=01;35:*.webm=01;35:*.ogm=01;35:*.mp4=01;35:*.m4v=01;35:*.mp4v=01;35:*.vob=01;35:*.qt=01;35:*.nuv=01;35:*.wmv=01;35:*.asf=01;35:*.rm=01;35:*.rmvb=01;35:*.flc=01;35:*.avi=01;35:*.fli=01;35:*.flv=01;35:*.gl=01;35:*.dl=01;35:*.xcf=01;35:*.xwd=01;35:*.yuv=01;35:*.cgm=01;35:*.emf=01;35:*.ogv=01;35:*.ogx=01;35:*.aac=00;36:*.au=00;36:*.flac=00;36:*.m4a=00;36:*.mid=00;36:*.midi=00;36:*.mka=00;36:*.mp3=00;36:*.mpc=00;36:*.ogg=00;36:*.ra=00;36:*.wav=00;36:*.oga=00;36:*.opus=00;36:*.spx=00;36:*.xspf=00;36:
INVOCATION_ID=7de1bed7edfb43d2989c032722a9aab6
XTERM_LOCALE=en_IN
XDG_SESSION_CLASS=user
TERM=xterm
USER=nalin
DISPLAY=:0.0
SHLVL=2
XDG_VTNR=1
XDG_SESSION_ID=1
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000
JOURNAL_STREAM=9:21181
HUSHLOGIN=FALSE
PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games
MAIL=/var/mail/nalin
_=/usr/bin/env
OLDPWD=/home/nalin/src

***********************************************

***********************************output of env in ~/src **************************
SHELL=/bin/bash
WINDOWID=6291469
XTERM_VERSION=XTerm(344)
LANGUAGE=en_IN:en
XTERM_SHELL=/bin/bash
XDG_SEAT=seat0
PWD=/home/nalin/src
LOGNAME=nalin
XDG_SESSION_TYPE=tty
XAUTHORITY=/home/nalin/.Xauthority
WINDOWPATH=1
HOME=/home/nalin
LANG=en_IN
LS_COLORS=rs=0:di=01;34:ln=01;36:mh=00:pi=40;33:so=01;35:do=01;35:bd=40;33;01:cd=40;33;01:or=40;31;01:mi=00:su=37;41:sg=30;43:ca=30;41:tw=30;42:ow=34;42:st=37;44:ex=01;32:*.tar=01;31:*.tgz=01;31:*.arc=01;31:*.arj=01;31:*.taz=01;31:*.lha=01;31:*.lz4=01;31:*.lzh=01;31:*.lzma=01;31:*.tlz=01;31:*.txz=01;31:*.tzo=01;31:*.t7z=01;31:*.zip=01;31:*.z=01;31:*.dz=01;31:*.gz=01;31:*.lrz=01;31:*.lz=01;31:*.lzo=01;31:*.xz=01;31:*.zst=01;31:*.tzst=01;31:*.bz2=01;31:*.bz=01;31:*.tbz=01;31:*.tbz2=01;31:*.tz=01;31:*.deb=01;31:*.rpm=01;31:*.jar=01;31:*.war=01;31:*.ear=01;31:*.sar=01;31:*.rar=01;31:*.alz=01;31:*.ace=01;31:*.zoo=01;31:*.cpio=01;31:*.7z=01;31:*.rz=01;31:*.cab=01;31:*.wim=01;31:*.swm=01;31:*.dwm=01;31:*.esd=01;31:*.jpg=01;35:*.jpeg=01;35:*.mjpg=01;35:*.mjpeg=01;35:*.gif=01;35:*.bmp=01;35:*.pbm=01;35:*.pgm=01;35:*.ppm=01;35:*.tga=01;35:*.xbm=01;35:*.xpm=01;35:*.tif=01;35:*.tiff=01;35:*.png=01;35:*.svg=01;35:*.svgz=01;35:*.mng=01;35:*.pcx=01;35:*.mov=01;35:*.mpg=01;35:*.mpeg=01;35:*.m2v=01;35:*.mkv=01;35:*.webm=01;35:*.ogm=01;35:*.mp4=01;35:*.m4v=01;35:*.mp4v=01;35:*.vob=01;35:*.qt=01;35:*.nuv=01;35:*.wmv=01;35:*.asf=01;35:*.rm=01;35:*.rmvb=01;35:*.flc=01;35:*.avi=01;35:*.fli=01;35:*.flv=01;35:*.gl=01;35:*.dl=01;35:*.xcf=01;35:*.xwd=01;35:*.yuv=01;35:*.cgm=01;35:*.emf=01;35:*.ogv=01;35:*.ogx=01;35:*.aac=00;36:*.au=00;36:*.flac=00;36:*.m4a=00;36:*.mid=00;36:*.midi=00;36:*.mka=00;36:*.mp3=00;36:*.mpc=00;36:*.ogg=00;36:*.ra=00;36:*.wav=00;36:*.oga=00;36:*.opus=00;36:*.spx=00;36:*.xspf=00;36:
INVOCATION_ID=7de1bed7edfb43d2989c032722a9aab6
XTERM_LOCALE=en_IN
XDG_SESSION_CLASS=user
TERM=xterm
USER=nalin
DISPLAY=:0.0
SHLVL=2
XDG_VTNR=1
XDG_SESSION_ID=1
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000
JOURNAL_STREAM=9:21181
HUSHLOGIN=FALSE
PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games
MAIL=/var/mail/nalin
_=/usr/bin/env
OLDPWD=/home/nalin

Answer 3

Can you create new directories in ~? (in particular, ~/.cpcache) We have a known issue that not being able to do that can cause problems, not sure if that's the case here. https://clojure.atlassian.net/browse/TDEPS-119

Comments

try it without the exec

---

silent exit...

---

exec replaces the current process (your terminal shell) with the launched java process, so you don't want to do that from the command line. But, you do get a repl there.

I can't explain what you're seeing. Might be something to do with bash itself or permissions in the home directory, but I'm not sure what it is or how to debug more.

---

It's not that the repl is not usable on my machine.. Any directory other than ~ is fine. Even able to run things in Emacs... so it is not a blocker for me...

I thought to share to let you guys know... In case you feel like more steps need to be executed, do let me know and i can share the results of execution if that helps... it just felt awkward...

Any other shell do you want me to try, apart from bash ?? By the way I tried "sh -x clojure", but it gave me this...
:~$ sh -x clojure
sh: 0: Can't open clojure

---

And I think it's not shell... But that's just a hunch...

Answer 4

I'd also be interested in knowing the output of clj -Spath in ~. Clearly, Clojure itself is not getting put on the classpath. If you have a ~/.clojure/deps.edn, you could also try moving that aside.

Comments

:~$ clj -Spath
src:/home/nalin/.m2/repository/org/clojure/clojure/1.10.3/clojure-1.10.3.jar:/home/nalin/.m2/repository/org/clojure/core.specs.alpha/0.2.56/core.specs.alpha-0.2.56.jar:/home/nalin/.m2/repository/org/clojure/spec.alpha/0.2.194/spec.alpha-0.2.194.jar

should i try deleting ~/.clojure/deps.edn ??

---

Not sure if the following is of any help...

:~$ mvn --version
Apache Maven 3.6.0
Maven home: /usr/share/maven
Java version: 11.0.11, vendor: Debian, runtime: /usr/lib/jvm/java-11-openjdk-amd64
Default locale: en_IN, platform encoding: UTF-8
OS name: "linux", version: "4.19.0-17-amd64", arch: "amd64", family: "unix"


:~$ java --version
openjdk 11.0.11 2021-04-20
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 11.0.11+9-post-Debian-1deb10u1)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 11.0.11+9-post-Debian-1deb10u1, mixed mode, sharing)