Merge pull request #2071 from sseefried-forked/clarify-glossary-and-garbage-collection

Add to glossary and clarify garbage collection

doc/manual/glossary/glossary.xml

@@ -85,29 +85,48 @@
 
 <glossentry xml:id="gloss-reference"><glossterm>reference</glossterm>
 
-  <glossdef><para>A store path <varname>P</varname> is said to have a
-  reference to a store path <varname>Q</varname> if the store object
-  at <varname>P</varname> contains the path <varname>Q</varname>
-  somewhere.  This implies than an execution involving
-  <varname>P</varname> potentially needs <varname>Q</varname> to be
-  present.  The <emphasis>references</emphasis> of a store path are
-  the set of store paths to which it has a reference.</para></glossdef>
+  <glossdef>
+    <para>A store path <varname>P</varname> is said to have a
+    reference to a store path <varname>Q</varname> if the store object
+    at <varname>P</varname> contains the path <varname>Q</varname>
+    somewhere. The <emphasis>references</emphasis> of a store path are
+    the set of store paths to which it has a reference.
+    </para>
+    <para>A derivation can reference other derivations and sources
+    (but not output paths), whereas an output path only references other
+    output paths.
+    </para>
+  </glossdef>
 
 </glossentry>
 
+<glossentry xml:id="gloss-reachable"><glossterm>reachable</glossterm>
+
+  <glossdef><para>A store path <varname>Q</varname> is reachable from
+  another store path <varname>P</varname> if <varname>Q</varname> is in the
+  <link linked="gloss-closure">closure</link> of the
+  <link linkend="gloss-reference">references</link> relation.
+  </para></glossdef>
+</glossentry>
 
 <glossentry xml:id="gloss-closure"><glossterm>closure</glossterm>
 
   <glossdef><para>The closure of a store path is the set of store
   paths that are directly or indirectly “reachable” from that store
   path; that is, it’s the closure of the path under the <link
-  linkend="gloss-reference">references</link> relation.  For instance,
-  if the store object at path <varname>P</varname> contains a
-  reference to path <varname>Q</varname>, then <varname>Q</varname> is
-  in the closure of <varname>P</varname>.  For correct deployment it
-  is necessary to deploy whole closures, since otherwise at runtime
-  files could be missing.  The command <command>nix-store
-  -qR</command> prints out closures of store paths.</para></glossdef>
+  linkend="gloss-reference">references</link> relation. For a package, the
+  closure of its derivation is equivalent to the build-time
+  dependencies, while the closure of its output path is equivalent to its
+  runtime dependencies. For correct deployment it is necessary to deploy whole
+  closures, since otherwise at runtime files could be missing. The command
+  <command>nix-store -qR</command> prints out closures of store paths.
+  </para>
+  <para>As an example, if the store object at path <varname>P</varname> contains
+  a reference to path <varname>Q</varname>, then <varname>Q</varname> is
+  in the closure of <varname>P</varname>. Further, if <varname>Q</varname>
+  references <varname>R</varname> then <varname>R</varname> is also in
+  the closure of <varname>P</varname>.
+  </para></glossdef>
 
 </glossentry>
 

doc/manual/introduction/about-nix.xml

@@ -60,7 +60,8 @@ This is because tools such as compilers don’t search in per-packages
 directories such as
 <filename>/nix/store/5lbfaxb722zp…-openssl-0.9.8d/include</filename>,
 so if a package builds correctly on your system, this is because you
-specified the dependency explicitly.</para>
+specified the dependency explicitly. This takes care of the build-time
+dependencies.</para>
 
 <para>Once a package is built, runtime dependencies are found by
 scanning binaries for the hash parts of Nix store paths (such as

doc/manual/packages/garbage-collection.xml

@@ -52,6 +52,14 @@ garbage collector as follows:
 <screen>
 $ nix-store --gc</screen>
 
+The behaviour of the gargage collector is affected by the <literal>keep-
+derivations</literal> (default: true) and <literal>keep-outputs</literal>
+(default: false) options in the Nix configuration file. The defaults will ensure
+that all derivations that are not build-time dependencies of garbage collector roots
+will be collected but that all output paths that are not runtime dependencies
+will be collected. (This is usually what you want, but while you are developing
+it may make sense to keep outputs to ensure that rebuild times are quick.)
+
 If you are feeling uncertain, you can also first view what files would
 be deleted: