Add experimental-features setting

Experimental features are now opt-in. There are currently two
experimental features: "nix-command" (which enables the "nix"
command), and "flakes" (which enables support for flakes). This will
allow us to merge experimental features more quickly, without
committing to supporting them indefinitely.

Typical usage:

$ nix build --experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' nixpkgs#hello

src/libexpr/flake/flake.cc

@@ -433,6 +433,8 @@ static std::pair<Flake, LockedInput> updateLocks(
    and optionally write it to file, it the flake is writable. */
 ResolvedFlake resolveFlake(EvalState & state, const FlakeRef & topRef, HandleLockFile handleLockFile)
 {
+    settings.requireExperimentalFeature("flakes");
+
     auto flake = getFlake(state, topRef,
         allowedToUseRegistries(handleLockFile, true));
 

src/libstore/globals.cc

@@ -105,6 +105,13 @@ StringSet Settings::getDefaultSystemFeatures()
     return features;
 }
 
+void Settings::requireExperimentalFeature(const std::string & name)
+{
+    auto & f = experimentalFeatures.get();
+    if (std::find(f.begin(), f.end(), name) == f.end())
+        throw Error("experimental Nix feature '%s' is disabled", name);
+}
+
 const string nixVersion = PACKAGE_VERSION;
 
 template<> void BaseSetting<SandboxMode>::set(const std::string & str)

src/libstore/globals.hh

@@ -356,6 +356,11 @@ public:
 
     Setting<std::string> githubAccessToken{this, "", "github-acces-token",
         "GitHub access token to get access to GitHub data through the GitHub API for github:<..> flakes."};
+
+    Setting<Strings> experimentalFeatures{this, {}, "experimental-features",
+        "Experimental Nix features to enable."};
+
+    void requireExperimentalFeature(const std::string & name);
 };
 
 

src/nix/main.cc

@@ -149,6 +149,8 @@ void mainWrapped(int argc, char * * argv)
 
     args.parseCmdline(argvToStrings(argc, argv));
 
+    settings.requireExperimentalFeature("nix-command");
+
     initPlugins();
 
     if (!args.command) args.showHelpAndExit();

tests/init.sh

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ cat > "$NIX_CONF_DIR"/nix.conf <<EOF
 build-users-group =
 keep-derivations = false
 sandbox = false
+experimental-features = nix-command flakes
 include nix.conf.extra
 EOF