public/nixpkgs
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull Requests Packages Projects Releases Wiki Activity
nixpkgs/doc/preface.chapter.md

53 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
Raw Normal View History

DOC: Overview of Nixpkgs/channels/Hydra/tests (close #11263) What I missed when I began using Nix and NixOS was a clear overview of how packages, channels, Hydra, the master branch and updates to channels relate to each other. I've noticed I am not the only one, given the amount of times these questions pop up. For now I propose to include this in the Nixpkgs manual, since this seems to be the best fit. However, I think it would be good to include this in either a new manual, i.e., a user manual, or an 'official' tutorial.
2015-11-25 17:13:44 +01:00
---
nixpkgs manual: various improvements in introduction - rename to preface to be inline with NixOS manual - refer to other manuals - use https - change example channel to 19.09
2019-10-28 11:40:40 +01:00
title: Preface
DOC: Overview of Nixpkgs/channels/Hydra/tests (close #11263) What I missed when I began using Nix and NixOS was a clear overview of how packages, channels, Hydra, the master branch and updates to channels relate to each other. I've noticed I am not the only one, given the amount of times these questions pop up. For now I propose to include this in the Nixpkgs manual, since this seems to be the best fit. However, I think it would be good to include this in either a new manual, i.e., a user manual, or an 'official' tutorial.
2015-11-25 17:13:44 +01:00
author: Frederik Rietdijk
date: 2015-11-25
---
nixpkgs manual: various improvements in introduction - rename to preface to be inline with NixOS manual - refer to other manuals - use https - change example channel to 19.09
2019-10-28 11:40:40 +01:00
# Preface
DOC: Overview of Nixpkgs/channels/Hydra/tests (close #11263) What I missed when I began using Nix and NixOS was a clear overview of how packages, channels, Hydra, the master branch and updates to channels relate to each other. I've noticed I am not the only one, given the amount of times these questions pop up. For now I propose to include this in the Nixpkgs manual, since this seems to be the best fit. However, I think it would be good to include this in either a new manual, i.e., a user manual, or an 'official' tutorial.
2015-11-25 17:13:44 +01:00
nixpkgs manual introduction: improve - make line wrapping more consistent (overlong lines) - don't stress the manual is *only* for contributors, as it does contain some user-guide parts, including the intro itself - since March our Hydra publishes binaries immediately, not waiting for channel update
2016-04-05 09:56:32 +02:00
The Nix Packages collection (Nixpkgs) is a set of thousands of packages for the
nixpkgs manual: various improvements in introduction - rename to preface to be inline with NixOS manual - refer to other manuals - use https - change example channel to 19.09
2019-10-28 11:40:40 +01:00
[Nix package manager](https://nixos.org/nix/), released under a
nixpkgs manual introduction: improve - make line wrapping more consistent (overlong lines) - don't stress the manual is *only* for contributors, as it does contain some user-guide parts, including the intro itself - since March our Hydra publishes binaries immediately, not waiting for channel update
2016-04-05 09:56:32 +02:00
[permissive MIT/X11 license](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/COPYING).
Packages are available for several platforms, and can be used with the Nix
nixpkgs manual: various improvements in introduction - rename to preface to be inline with NixOS manual - refer to other manuals - use https - change example channel to 19.09
2019-10-28 11:40:40 +01:00
package manager on most GNU/Linux distributions as well as [NixOS](https://nixos.org/nixos).
nixpkgs manual introduction: improve - make line wrapping more consistent (overlong lines) - don't stress the manual is *only* for contributors, as it does contain some user-guide parts, including the intro itself - since March our Hydra publishes binaries immediately, not waiting for channel update
2016-04-05 09:56:32 +02:00
This manual primarily describes how to write packages for the Nix Packages collection
(Nixpkgs). Thus it’s mainly for packagers and developers who want to add packages to
DOC: Overview of Nixpkgs/channels/Hydra/tests (close #11263) What I missed when I began using Nix and NixOS was a clear overview of how packages, channels, Hydra, the master branch and updates to channels relate to each other. I've noticed I am not the only one, given the amount of times these questions pop up. For now I propose to include this in the Nixpkgs manual, since this seems to be the best fit. However, I think it would be good to include this in either a new manual, i.e., a user manual, or an 'official' tutorial.
2015-11-25 17:13:44 +01:00
Nixpkgs. If you like to learn more about the Nix package manager and the Nix
nixpkgs manual: various improvements in introduction - rename to preface to be inline with NixOS manual - refer to other manuals - use https - change example channel to 19.09
2019-10-28 11:40:40 +01:00
expression language, then you are kindly referred to the [Nix manual](https://nixos.org/nix/manual/).
The NixOS distribution is documented in the [NixOS manual](https://nixos.org/nixos/manual/).
DOC: Overview of Nixpkgs/channels/Hydra/tests (close #11263) What I missed when I began using Nix and NixOS was a clear overview of how packages, channels, Hydra, the master branch and updates to channels relate to each other. I've noticed I am not the only one, given the amount of times these questions pop up. For now I propose to include this in the Nixpkgs manual, since this seems to be the best fit. However, I think it would be good to include this in either a new manual, i.e., a user manual, or an 'official' tutorial.
2015-11-25 17:13:44 +01:00
## Overview of Nixpkgs
Nix expressions describe how to build packages from source and are collected in
the [nixpkgs repository](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs). Also included in the
nixpkgs manual introduction: improve - make line wrapping more consistent (overlong lines) - don't stress the manual is *only* for contributors, as it does contain some user-guide parts, including the intro itself - since March our Hydra publishes binaries immediately, not waiting for channel update
2016-04-05 09:56:32 +02:00
collection are Nix expressions for
nixpkgs manual: various improvements in introduction - rename to preface to be inline with NixOS manual - refer to other manuals - use https - change example channel to 19.09
2019-10-28 11:40:40 +01:00
[NixOS modules](https://nixos.org/nixos/manual/index.html#sec-writing-modules).
nixpkgs manual introduction: improve - make line wrapping more consistent (overlong lines) - don't stress the manual is *only* for contributors, as it does contain some user-guide parts, including the intro itself - since March our Hydra publishes binaries immediately, not waiting for channel update
2016-04-05 09:56:32 +02:00
With these expressions the Nix package manager can build binary packages.
DOC: Overview of Nixpkgs/channels/Hydra/tests (close #11263) What I missed when I began using Nix and NixOS was a clear overview of how packages, channels, Hydra, the master branch and updates to channels relate to each other. I've noticed I am not the only one, given the amount of times these questions pop up. For now I propose to include this in the Nixpkgs manual, since this seems to be the best fit. However, I think it would be good to include this in either a new manual, i.e., a user manual, or an 'official' tutorial.
2015-11-25 17:13:44 +01:00
Packages, including the Nix packages collection, are distributed through
nixpkgs manual: various improvements in introduction - rename to preface to be inline with NixOS manual - refer to other manuals - use https - change example channel to 19.09
2019-10-28 11:40:40 +01:00
[channels](https://nixos.org/nix/manual/#sec-channels). The collection is
DOC: Overview of Nixpkgs/channels/Hydra/tests (close #11263) What I missed when I began using Nix and NixOS was a clear overview of how packages, channels, Hydra, the master branch and updates to channels relate to each other. I've noticed I am not the only one, given the amount of times these questions pop up. For now I propose to include this in the Nixpkgs manual, since this seems to be the best fit. However, I think it would be good to include this in either a new manual, i.e., a user manual, or an 'official' tutorial.
2015-11-25 17:13:44 +01:00
distributed for users of Nix on non-NixOS distributions through the channel
`nixpkgs`. Users of NixOS generally use one of the `nixos-*` channels, e.g.
nixpkgs manual: various improvements in introduction - rename to preface to be inline with NixOS manual - refer to other manuals - use https - change example channel to 19.09
2019-10-28 11:40:40 +01:00
`nixos-19.09`, which includes all packages and modules for the stable NixOS
19.09. Stable NixOS releases are generally only given
DOC: Overview of Nixpkgs/channels/Hydra/tests (close #11263) What I missed when I began using Nix and NixOS was a clear overview of how packages, channels, Hydra, the master branch and updates to channels relate to each other. I've noticed I am not the only one, given the amount of times these questions pop up. For now I propose to include this in the Nixpkgs manual, since this seems to be the best fit. However, I think it would be good to include this in either a new manual, i.e., a user manual, or an 'official' tutorial.
2015-11-25 17:13:44 +01:00
security updates. More up to date packages and modules are available via the
`nixos-unstable` channel.
Both `nixos-unstable` and `nixpkgs` follow the `master` branch of the Nixpkgs
nixpkgs manual introduction: improve - make line wrapping more consistent (overlong lines) - don't stress the manual is *only* for contributors, as it does contain some user-guide parts, including the intro itself - since March our Hydra publishes binaries immediately, not waiting for channel update
2016-04-05 09:56:32 +02:00
repository, although both do lag the `master` branch by generally
nixpkgs manual preface: change howoldis link to status page link
2020-04-02 21:52:44 -04:00
[a couple of days](https://status.nixos.org/). Updates to a channel are
nixpkgs manual introduction: improve - make line wrapping more consistent (overlong lines) - don't stress the manual is *only* for contributors, as it does contain some user-guide parts, including the intro itself - since March our Hydra publishes binaries immediately, not waiting for channel update
2016-04-05 09:56:32 +02:00
distributed as soon as all tests for that channel pass, e.g.
nixpkgs manual: various improvements in introduction - rename to preface to be inline with NixOS manual - refer to other manuals - use https - change example channel to 19.09
2019-10-28 11:40:40 +01:00
[this table](https://hydra.nixos.org/job/nixpkgs/trunk/unstable#tabs-constituents)
DOC: Overview of Nixpkgs/channels/Hydra/tests (close #11263) What I missed when I began using Nix and NixOS was a clear overview of how packages, channels, Hydra, the master branch and updates to channels relate to each other. I've noticed I am not the only one, given the amount of times these questions pop up. For now I propose to include this in the Nixpkgs manual, since this seems to be the best fit. However, I think it would be good to include this in either a new manual, i.e., a user manual, or an 'official' tutorial.
2015-11-25 17:13:44 +01:00
shows the status of tests for the `nixpkgs` channel.
treewide: use https for nixos.org and hydra.nixos.org tarballs.nixos.org is omitted from the change because urls from there are always hashed and checked
2020-04-18 22:51:19 +02:00
The tests are conducted by a cluster called [Hydra](https://nixos.org/hydra/),
nixpkgs manual introduction: improve - make line wrapping more consistent (overlong lines) - don't stress the manual is *only* for contributors, as it does contain some user-guide parts, including the intro itself - since March our Hydra publishes binaries immediately, not waiting for channel update
2016-04-05 09:56:32 +02:00
which also builds binary packages from the Nix expressions in Nixpkgs for
`x86_64-linux`, `i686-linux` and `x86_64-darwin`.
The binaries are made available via a [binary cache](https://cache.nixos.org).
DOC: Overview of Nixpkgs/channels/Hydra/tests (close #11263) What I missed when I began using Nix and NixOS was a clear overview of how packages, channels, Hydra, the master branch and updates to channels relate to each other. I've noticed I am not the only one, given the amount of times these questions pop up. For now I propose to include this in the Nixpkgs manual, since this seems to be the best fit. However, I think it would be good to include this in either a new manual, i.e., a user manual, or an 'official' tutorial.
2015-11-25 17:13:44 +01:00
The current Nix expressions of the channels are available in the
Remove references to the nixpkgs-channels repo Channel branches are now provided in the nixpkgs repo. Issue #71176.
2019-10-17 19:43:07 +02:00
[`nixpkgs`](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs) repository in branches
that correspond to the channel names (e.g. `nixos-19.09-small`).
Reference in New Issue Copy Permalink