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shorten the quick start chapter

Browse source 
this focuses on `nix-shell -p` and refers to search.nixos.org for
package search, which is currently the easiest and most effective way to
find program names.
This commit is contained in:
Valentin Gagarin 2023-12-01 00:41:19 +01:00
parent 0301b8fc73
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87
doc/manual/src/quick-start.md
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@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
# Quick Start
This chapter is for impatient people who don't like reading
documentation. For more in-depth information you are kindly referred
to subsequent chapters.
This chapter is for impatient people who don't like reading documentation.
For more in-depth information you are kindly referred to subsequent chapters.
1. Install Nix by running the following:
1. Install Nix:
```console
$ curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install | sh
@ -13,87 +12,33 @@ to subsequent chapters.
The install script will use `sudo`, so make sure you have sufficient rights.
On Linux, `--daemon` can be omitted for a single-user install.
For other installation methods, see [here](installation/index.md).
For other installation methods, see the detailed [installation instructions](installation/index.md).
1. See what installable packages are currently available in the
channel:
1. Run software without installing it permanently:
```console
$ nix-env --query --available --attr-path
nixpkgs.docbook_xml_dtd_43 docbook-xml-4.3
nixpkgs.docbook_xml_dtd_45 docbook-xml-4.5
nixpkgs.firefox firefox-33.0.2
nixpkgs.hello hello-2.9
nixpkgs.libxslt libxslt-1.1.28
…
$ nix-shell --packages cowsay lolcat
```
1. Install some packages from the channel:
This downloads the specified packages with all their dependencies, and drops you into a Bash shell where the commands provided by those packages are present.
This will not affect your normal environment:
```console
$ nix-env --install --attr nixpkgs.hello
[nix-shell:~]$ cowsay Hello, Nix! | lolcat
```
This should download pre-built packages; it should not build them
locally (if it does, something went wrong).
1. Test that they work:
Exiting the shell will make the programs disappear again:
```console
$ which hello
/home/eelco/.nix-profile/bin/hello
$ hello
Hello, world!
```
1. Uninstall a package:
```console
$ nix-env --uninstall hello
```
1. You can also test a package without installing it:
```console
$ nix-shell --packages hello
```
This builds or downloads GNU Hello and its dependencies, then drops
you into a Bash shell where the `hello` command is present, all
without affecting your normal environment:
```console
[nix-shell:~]$ hello
Hello, world!
[nix-shell:~]$ exit
$ hello
hello: command not found
$ lolcat
lolcat: command not found
```
1. To keep up-to-date with the channel, do:
1. Search for more packages on <search.nixos.org> to try them out.
1. Free up storage space:
```console
$ nix-channel --update nixpkgs
$ nix-env --upgrade '*'
```
The latter command will upgrade each installed package for which
there is a “newer” version (as determined by comparing the version
numbers).
1. If you're unhappy with the result of a `nix-env` action (e.g., an
upgraded package turned out not to work properly), you can go back:
```console
$ nix-env --rollback
```
1. You should periodically run the Nix garbage collector to get rid of
unused packages, since uninstalls or upgrades don't actually delete
them:
```console
$ nix-collect-garbage --delete-old
$ nix-collect-garbage
```