forked from lix-project/lix
Merge pull request #5308 from edolstra/release-notes
Nix 2.4 release notes
This commit is contained in:
Eelco Dolstra
GitHub
commit
4f496150eb
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@ -1,8 +1,498 @@
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# Release 2.4 (202X-XX-XX)
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# Release 2.4 (2021-10-XX)
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|
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- It is now an error to modify the `plugin-files` setting via a
|
||||
command-line flag that appears after the first non-flag argument
|
||||
to any command, including a subcommand to `nix`. For example,
|
||||
This is the first release in more than two years and is the result of
|
||||
more than 2800 commits from 195 contributors since release 2.3.
|
||||
|
||||
## Highlights
|
||||
|
||||
* Nix's **error messages** have been improved a lot. For instance,
|
||||
evaluation errors now point out the location of the error:
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
$ nix build
|
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error: undefined variable 'bzip3'
|
||||
|
||||
at /nix/store/449lv242z0zsgwv95a8124xi11sp419f-source/flake.nix:88:13:
|
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|
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87| [ curl
|
||||
88| bzip3 xz brotli editline
|
||||
| ^
|
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89| openssl sqlite
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
* The **`nix` command** has seen a lot of work and is now almost at
|
||||
feature parity with the old command-line interface (the `nix-*`
|
||||
commands). It aims to be [more modern, consistent and pleasant to
|
||||
use](../contributing/cli-guideline.md) than the old CLI. It is still
|
||||
marked as experimental but its interface should not change much
|
||||
anymore in future releases.
|
||||
|
||||
* **Flakes** are a new format to package Nix-based projects in a more
|
||||
discoverable, composable, consistent and reproducible way. A flake
|
||||
is just a repository or tarball containing a file named `flake.nix`
|
||||
that specifies dependencies on other flakes and returns any Nix
|
||||
assets such as packages, Nixpkgs overlays, NixOS modules or CI
|
||||
tests. The new `nix` CLI is primarily based around flakes; for
|
||||
example, a command like `nix run nixpkgs#hello` runs the `hello`
|
||||
application from the `nixpkgs` flake.
|
||||
|
||||
Flakes are currently marked as experimental. For an introduction,
|
||||
see [this blog
|
||||
post](https://www.tweag.io/blog/2020-05-25-flakes/). For detailed
|
||||
information about flake syntax and semantics, see the [`nix flake`
|
||||
manual page](../command-ref/new-cli/nix3-flake.md).
|
||||
|
||||
* Nix's store can now be **content-addressed**, meaning that the hash
|
||||
component of a store path is the hash of the path's
|
||||
contents. Previously Nix could only build **input-addressed** store
|
||||
paths, where the hash is computed from the derivation dependency
|
||||
graph. Content-addressing allows deduplication, early cutoff in
|
||||
build systems, and unprivileged closure copying. This is still [an
|
||||
experimental
|
||||
feature](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/content-addressed-nix-call-for-testers/12881).
|
||||
|
||||
* The Nix manual has been converted into Markdown, making it easier to
|
||||
contribute. In addition, every `nix` subcommand now has a manual
|
||||
page, documenting every option.
|
||||
|
||||
* A new setting that allows **experimental features** to be enabled
|
||||
selectively. This allows us to merge unstable features into Nix more
|
||||
quickly and do more frequent releases.
|
||||
|
||||
## Other features
|
||||
|
||||
* There are many new `nix` subcommands:
|
||||
|
||||
- `nix develop` is intended to replace `nix-shell`. It has a number
|
||||
of new features:
|
||||
|
||||
* It automatically sets the output environment variables (such as
|
||||
`$out`) to writable locations (such as `./outputs/out`).
|
||||
|
||||
* It can store the environment in a profile. This is useful for
|
||||
offline work.
|
||||
|
||||
* It can run specific phases directly. For instance, `nix develop
|
||||
--build` runs `buildPhase`.
|
||||
|
||||
- It allows dependencies in the Nix store to be "redirected" to
|
||||
arbitrary directories using the `--redirect` flag. This is
|
||||
useful if you want to hack on a package *and* some of its
|
||||
dependencies at the same time.
|
||||
|
||||
- `nix print-dev-env` prints the environment variables and bash
|
||||
functions defined by a derivation. This is useful for users of
|
||||
other shells than bash (especially with `--json`).
|
||||
|
||||
- `nix shell` was previously named `nix run` and is intended to
|
||||
replace `nix-shell -p`, but without the `stdenv` overhead. It
|
||||
simply starts a shell where some packages have been added to
|
||||
`$PATH`.
|
||||
|
||||
- `nix run` (not to be confused with the old subcommand that has
|
||||
been renamed to `nix shell`) runs an "app", a flake output that
|
||||
specifies a command to run, or an eponymous program from a
|
||||
package. For example, `nix run nixpkgs#hello` runs the `hello`
|
||||
program from the `hello` package in `nixpkgs`.
|
||||
|
||||
- `nix flake` is the container for flake-related operations, such as
|
||||
creating a new flake, querying the contents of a flake or updating
|
||||
flake lock files.
|
||||
|
||||
- `nix registry` allows you to query and update the flake registry,
|
||||
which maps identifiers such as `nixpkgs` to concrete flake URLs.
|
||||
|
||||
- `nix profile` is intended to replace `nix-env`. Its main advantage
|
||||
is that it keeps track of the provenance of installed packages
|
||||
(e.g. exactly which flake version a package came from). It also
|
||||
has some helpful subcommands:
|
||||
|
||||
* `nix profile history` shows what packages were added, upgraded
|
||||
or removed between each version of a profile.
|
||||
|
||||
* `nix profile diff-closures` shows the changes between the
|
||||
closures of each version of a profile. This allows you to
|
||||
discover the addition or removal of dependencies or size
|
||||
changes.
|
||||
|
||||
**Warning**: after a profile has been updated using `nix profile`,
|
||||
it is no longer usable with `nix-env`.
|
||||
|
||||
- `nix store diff-closures` shows the differences between the
|
||||
closures of two store paths in terms of the versions and sizes of
|
||||
dependencies in the closures.
|
||||
|
||||
- `nix store make-content-addressable` rewrites an arbitrary closure
|
||||
to make it content-addressed. Such paths can be copied into other
|
||||
stores without requiring signatures.
|
||||
|
||||
- `nix bundle` uses the [`nix-bundle`
|
||||
program](https://github.com/matthewbauer/nix-bundle) to convert a
|
||||
closure into a self-extracting executable.
|
||||
|
||||
- Various other replacements for the old CLI, e.g. `nix store gc`,
|
||||
`nix store delete`, `nix store repair`, `nix nar dump-path`, `nix
|
||||
store prefetch-file`, `nix store prefetch-tarball`, `nix key` and
|
||||
`nix daemon`.
|
||||
|
||||
* Nix now has an **evaluation cache** for flake outputs. For example,
|
||||
a second invocation of the command `nix run nixpkgs#firefox` will
|
||||
not need to evaluate the `firefox` attribute because it's already in
|
||||
the evaluation cache. This is made possible by the hermetic
|
||||
evaluation model of flakes.
|
||||
|
||||
* The new `--offline` flag disables substituters and causes all
|
||||
locally cached tarballs and repositories to be considered
|
||||
up-to-date.
|
||||
|
||||
* The new `--refresh` flag causes all locally cached tarballs and
|
||||
repositories to be considered out-of-date.
|
||||
|
||||
* Many `nix` subcommands now have a `--json` option to produce
|
||||
machine-readable output.
|
||||
|
||||
* `nix repl` has a new `:doc` command to show documentation about
|
||||
builtin functions (e.g. `:doc builtins.map`).
|
||||
|
||||
* Binary cache stores now have an option `index-debug-info` to create
|
||||
an index of DWARF debuginfo files for use by
|
||||
[`dwarffs`](https://github.com/edolstra/dwarffs).
|
||||
|
||||
* To support flakes, Nix now has an extensible mechanism for fetching
|
||||
source trees. Currently it has the following backends:
|
||||
|
||||
* Git repositories
|
||||
|
||||
* Mercurial repositories
|
||||
|
||||
* GitHub and GitLab repositories (an optimisation for faster
|
||||
fetching than Git)
|
||||
|
||||
* Tarballs
|
||||
|
||||
* Arbitrary directories
|
||||
|
||||
The fetcher infrastructure is exposed via flake input specifications
|
||||
and via the `fetchTree` built-in.
|
||||
|
||||
* **Languages changes**: the only new language feature is that you can
|
||||
now have antiquotations in paths, e.g. `./${foo}` instead of `./. +
|
||||
foo`.
|
||||
|
||||
* **New built-in functions**:
|
||||
|
||||
- `builtins.fetchTree` allows fetching a source tree using any
|
||||
backends supported by the fetcher infrastructure. It subsumes the
|
||||
functionality of existing built-ins like `fetchGit`,
|
||||
`fetchMercurial` and `fetchTarball`.
|
||||
|
||||
- `builtins.getFlake` fetches a flake and returns its output
|
||||
attributes. This function should not be used inside flakes! Use
|
||||
flake inputs instead.
|
||||
|
||||
- `builtins.floor` and `builtins.ceil` round a floating-point number
|
||||
down and up, respectively.
|
||||
|
||||
* Experimental support for recursive Nix. This means that Nix
|
||||
derivations can now call Nix to build other derivations. This is not
|
||||
in a stable state yet and not well
|
||||
[documented](https://github.com/NixOS/nix/commit/c4d7c76b641d82b2696fef73ce0ac160043c18da).
|
||||
|
||||
* The new experimental feature `no-url-literals` disables URL
|
||||
literals. This helps to implement [RFC
|
||||
45](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/pull/45).
|
||||
|
||||
* Nix now uses `libarchive` to decompress and unpack tarballs and zip
|
||||
files, so `tar` is no longer required.
|
||||
|
||||
* The priority of substituters can now be overridden using the
|
||||
`priority` substituter setting (e.g. `--substituters
|
||||
'http://cache.nixos.org?priority=100 daemon?priority=10'`).
|
||||
|
||||
* `nix edit` now supports non-derivation attributes, e.g. `nix edit
|
||||
.#nixosConfigurations.bla`.
|
||||
|
||||
* The `nix` command now provides command line completion for `bash`,
|
||||
`zsh` and `fish`. Since the support for getting completions is built
|
||||
into `nix`, it's easy to add support for other shells.
|
||||
|
||||
* The new `--log-format` flag selects what Nix's output looks like. It
|
||||
defaults to a terse progress indicator. There is a new
|
||||
`internal-json` output format for use by other programs.
|
||||
|
||||
* `nix eval` has a new `--apply` flag that applies a function to the
|
||||
evaluation result.
|
||||
|
||||
* `nix eval` has a new `--write-to` flag that allows it to write a
|
||||
nested attribute set of string leaves to a corresponding directory
|
||||
tree.
|
||||
|
||||
* Memory improvements: many operations that add paths to the store or
|
||||
copy paths between stores now run in constant memory.
|
||||
|
||||
* Many `nix` commands now support the flag `--derivation` to operate
|
||||
on a `.drv` file itself instead of its outputs.
|
||||
|
||||
* There is a new store called `dummy://` that does not support
|
||||
building or adding paths. This is useful if you want to use the Nix
|
||||
evaluator but don't have a Nix store.
|
||||
|
||||
* The `ssh-ng://` store now allows substituting paths on the remote,
|
||||
as `ssh://` already did.
|
||||
|
||||
* When auto-calling a function with an ellipsis, all arguments are now
|
||||
passed.
|
||||
|
||||
* New `nix-shell` features:
|
||||
|
||||
- It preserves the `PS1` environment variable if
|
||||
`NIX_SHELL_PRESERVE_PROMPT` is set.
|
||||
|
||||
- With `-p`, it passes any `--arg`s as Nixpkgs arguments.
|
||||
|
||||
- Support for structured attributes.
|
||||
|
||||
* `nix-prefetch-url` has a new `--executable` flag.
|
||||
|
||||
* On `x86_64` systems, [`x86_64` microarchitecture
|
||||
levels](https://lwn.net/Articles/844831/) are mapped to additional
|
||||
system types (e.g. `x86_64-v1-linux`).
|
||||
|
||||
* The new `--eval-store` flag allows you to use a different store for
|
||||
evaluation than for building or storing the build result. This is
|
||||
primarily useful when you want to query whether something exists in
|
||||
a read-only store, such as a binary cache:
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
# nix path-info --json --store https://cache.nixos.org \
|
||||
--eval-store auto nixpkgs#hello
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
(Here `auto` indicates the local store.)
|
||||
|
||||
* The Nix daemon has a new low-latency mechanism for copying
|
||||
closures. This is useful when building on remote stores such as
|
||||
`ssh-ng://`.
|
||||
|
||||
* Plugins can now register `nix` subcommands.
|
||||
|
||||
## Incompatible changes
|
||||
|
||||
* The `nix` command is now marked as an experimental feature. This
|
||||
means that you need to add
|
||||
|
||||
> experimental-features = nix-command
|
||||
|
||||
to your `nix.conf` if you want to use it, or pass
|
||||
`--extra-experimental-features nix-command` on the command line.
|
||||
|
||||
* The old `nix run` has been renamed to `nix shell` (and there is a
|
||||
new `nix run` that does something else, as described above).
|
||||
|
||||
* It is now an error to modify the `plugin-files` setting via a
|
||||
command-line flag that appears after the first non-flag argument to
|
||||
any command, including a subcommand to `nix`. For example,
|
||||
`nix-instantiate default.nix --plugin-files ""` must now become
|
||||
`nix-instantiate --plugin-files "" default.nix`.
|
||||
- Plugins that add new `nix` subcommands are now actually respected.
|
||||
|
||||
* We no longer release source tarballs. If you want to build from
|
||||
source, please build from the tags in the Git repository.
|
||||
|
||||
## Contributors
|
||||
|
||||
This release has contributions from
|
||||
Adam Höse,
|
||||
Albert Safin,
|
||||
Alex Kovar,
|
||||
Alex Zero,
|
||||
Alexander Bantyev,
|
||||
Alexandre Esteves,
|
||||
Alyssa Ross,
|
||||
Anatole Lucet,
|
||||
Anders Kaseorg,
|
||||
Andreas Rammhold,
|
||||
Antoine Eiche,
|
||||
Antoine Martin,
|
||||
Arnout Engelen,
|
||||
Arthur Gautier,
|
||||
aszlig,
|
||||
Ben Burdette,
|
||||
Benjamin Hipple,
|
||||
Bernardo Meurer,
|
||||
Björn Gohla,
|
||||
Bjørn Forsman,
|
||||
Bob van der Linden,
|
||||
Brian Leung,
|
||||
Brian McKenna,
|
||||
Brian Wignall,
|
||||
Bruce Toll,
|
||||
Bryan Richter,
|
||||
Calle Rosenquist,
|
||||
Calvin Loncaric,
|
||||
Carlo Nucera,
|
||||
Carlos D'Agostino,
|
||||
Chaz Schlarp,
|
||||
Christian Höppner,
|
||||
Christian Kampka,
|
||||
Chua Hou,
|
||||
Chuck,
|
||||
Cole Helbling,
|
||||
Daiderd Jordan,
|
||||
Dan Callahan,
|
||||
Dani,
|
||||
Daniel Fitzpatrick,
|
||||
Danila Fedorin,
|
||||
Daniël de Kok,
|
||||
Danny Bautista,
|
||||
DavHau,
|
||||
David McFarland,
|
||||
Dima,
|
||||
Domen Kožar,
|
||||
Dominik Schrempf,
|
||||
Dominique Martinet,
|
||||
dramforever,
|
||||
Dustin DeWeese,
|
||||
edef,
|
||||
Eelco Dolstra,
|
||||
Emilio Karakey,
|
||||
Emily,
|
||||
Eric Culp,
|
||||
Ersin Akinci,
|
||||
Fabian Möller,
|
||||
Farid Zakaria,
|
||||
Federico Pellegrin,
|
||||
Finn Behrens,
|
||||
Florian Franzen,
|
||||
Félix Baylac-Jacqué,
|
||||
Gabriel Gonzalez,
|
||||
Geoff Reedy,
|
||||
Georges Dubus,
|
||||
Graham Christensen,
|
||||
Greg Hale,
|
||||
Greg Price,
|
||||
Gregor Kleen,
|
||||
Gregory Hale,
|
||||
Griffin Smith,
|
||||
Guillaume Bouchard,
|
||||
Harald van Dijk,
|
||||
illustris,
|
||||
Ivan Zvonimir Horvat,
|
||||
Jade,
|
||||
Jake Waksbaum,
|
||||
jakobrs,
|
||||
James Ottaway,
|
||||
Jan Tojnar,
|
||||
Janne Heß,
|
||||
Jaroslavas Pocepko,
|
||||
Jarrett Keifer,
|
||||
Jeremy Schlatter,
|
||||
Joachim Breitner,
|
||||
Joe Hermaszewski,
|
||||
Joe Pea,
|
||||
John Ericson,
|
||||
Jonathan Ringer,
|
||||
Josef Kemetmüller,
|
||||
Joseph Lucas,
|
||||
Jude Taylor,
|
||||
Julian Stecklina,
|
||||
Julien Tanguy,
|
||||
Jörg Thalheim,
|
||||
Kai Wohlfahrt,
|
||||
keke,
|
||||
Keshav Kini,
|
||||
Kevin Quick,
|
||||
Kevin Stock,
|
||||
Kjetil Orbekk,
|
||||
Krzysztof Gogolewski,
|
||||
kvtb,
|
||||
Lars Mühmel,
|
||||
Leonhard Markert,
|
||||
Lily Ballard,
|
||||
Linus Heckemann,
|
||||
Lorenzo Manacorda,
|
||||
Lucas Desgouilles,
|
||||
Lucas Franceschino,
|
||||
Lucas Hoffmann,
|
||||
Luke Granger-Brown,
|
||||
Madeline Haraj,
|
||||
Marwan Aljubeh,
|
||||
Mat Marini,
|
||||
Mateusz Piotrowski,
|
||||
Matthew Bauer,
|
||||
Matthew Kenigsberg,
|
||||
Mauricio Scheffer,
|
||||
Maximilian Bosch,
|
||||
Michael Adler,
|
||||
Michael Bishop,
|
||||
Michael Fellinger,
|
||||
Michael Forney,
|
||||
Michael Reilly,
|
||||
mlatus,
|
||||
Mykola Orliuk,
|
||||
Nathan van Doorn,
|
||||
Naïm Favier,
|
||||
ng0,
|
||||
Nick Van den Broeck,
|
||||
Nicolas Stig124 Formichella,
|
||||
Niels Egberts,
|
||||
Niklas Hambüchen,
|
||||
Nikola Knezevic,
|
||||
oxalica,
|
||||
p01arst0rm,
|
||||
Pamplemousse,
|
||||
Patrick Hilhorst,
|
||||
Paul Opiyo,
|
||||
Pavol Rusnak,
|
||||
Peter Kolloch,
|
||||
Philipp Bartsch,
|
||||
Philipp Middendorf,
|
||||
Piotr Szubiakowski,
|
||||
Profpatsch,
|
||||
Puck Meerburg,
|
||||
Ricardo M. Correia,
|
||||
Rickard Nilsson,
|
||||
Robert Hensing,
|
||||
Robin Gloster,
|
||||
Rodrigo,
|
||||
Rok Garbas,
|
||||
Ronnie Ebrin,
|
||||
Rovanion Luckey,
|
||||
Ryan Burns,
|
||||
Ryan Mulligan,
|
||||
Ryne Everett,
|
||||
Sam Doshi,
|
||||
Sam Lidder,
|
||||
Samir Talwar,
|
||||
Samuel Dionne-Riel,
|
||||
Sebastian Ullrich,
|
||||
Sergei Trofimovich,
|
||||
Sevan Janiyan,
|
||||
Shao Cheng,
|
||||
Shea Levy,
|
||||
Silvan Mosberger,
|
||||
Stefan Frijters,
|
||||
Stefan Jaax,
|
||||
sternenseemann,
|
||||
Steven Shaw,
|
||||
Stéphan Kochen,
|
||||
SuperSandro2000,
|
||||
Suraj Barkale,
|
||||
Taeer Bar-Yam,
|
||||
Thomas Churchman,
|
||||
Théophane Hufschmitt,
|
||||
Timothy DeHerrera,
|
||||
Timothy Klim,
|
||||
Tobias Möst,
|
||||
Tobias Pflug,
|
||||
Tom Bereknyei,
|
||||
Travis A. Everett,
|
||||
Ujjwal Jain,
|
||||
Vladimír Čunát,
|
||||
Wil Taylor,
|
||||
Will Dietz,
|
||||
Yaroslav Bolyukin,
|
||||
Yestin L. Harrison,
|
||||
YI,
|
||||
Yorick van Pelt,
|
||||
Yuriy Taraday and
|
||||
zimbatm.
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
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Reference in a new issue