* docs: unify documentation on search paths
- put all the information on search path semantics into `builtins.findFile`
- put all the information on determining the value of `builtins.nixPath` into the
`nix-path` setting
maybe `builtins.nixPath` is a better place for this, but those bits
can still be moved around now that it's all next to each other.
- link to the syntax page for lookup paths from all places that are
concerned with it
- add or clarify examples
- add a test verifying a claim from documentation
* manual: Contributing -> Development, Hacking -> Building
what's currently called "hacking" are really instructions for setting up
a development environment and compiling from source. we have
a contribution guide in the repo (which rightly focuses on GitHub
workflows), and the material in the manual is more about working
on the code itself.
since we'd otherwise have three headings that amount to "Building Nix",
this change also moves the "classic Nix" instructions to the top.
we may want to reorganise this in the future, and bring
contributor-oriented information closer to the code, but for now let's
stick to more accurate names to ease navigation.
move together all syntactic and semantic information into one
page, and add a page on data types, which in turn links to the syntax and
semantics.
also split out the note on scoping rules into its own page.
Co-authored-by: Ryan Hendrickson <ryan.hendrickson@alum.mit.edu>
* docs: fix python nix-shell example
This Python code snippet depended on Python 2 which has been marked as insecure in 24.05.
I modernized the example so new users will not be surprised upon copying and pasting the snippet for exploration.
Co-authored-by: John Ericson <git@JohnEricson.me>
* reword documentation on `nix-copy-closure`
- one sentence per line
- be more precise with respect to which Nix stores are being accessed
- make a clear distinction between store paths and store objects
- add links to definitions of terms
- clarify which machine is which
- --to and --from don't take arguments
Co-authored-by: Robert Hensing <roberth@users.noreply.github.com>
- add links to definitions of terms
- one sentence per line
- be more specific about which store is used for the import
- clearly distinguish store paths and store objects
- make a recommendation to use `nix-copy-closure` for efficient SSH transfers
given `nix-copy-closure` exists, it doesn't make much sense to do
nix-store --export $paths | nix-store --import --store ssh://foo@bar
since that dumps everything rather than granularly transferring store
objects as needed.
therefore, pick an example where dumping the entire closure into a file
actually makes a difference, such as when deploying to airgapped systems.
In addition:
- Take the opportunity to add a bunch more missing hyperlinks, too.
- Remove some glossary entries that are now subsumed by dedicated pages.
We used to not be able to do this without breaking link fragments, but
now we can, so pick up where we left off.
Co-authored-by: Robert Hensing <roberth@users.noreply.github.com>
- add links to definitions of terms
- one sentence per line
- be more specific about which store is used for the import
- clearly distinguish store paths and store objects
- make a recommendation to use `nix-copy-closure` for efficient SSH transfers
* doc: convention improvements for copying closure
use -P, which only considers executables but not shell builtins
Co-authored-by: Valentin Gagarin <valentin.gagarin@tweag.io>
how the different invocations relate to each other seems be
confusing, which is relatable because one has to wire it up in your head
while reading. an explicit reference should make it unambiguous and
easier to notice due to links being highlighted.
The Nix team has requested that this output format remain unchanged.
I've added a warning to the man page explaining that `nix-instantiate
--eval` output will not parse correctly in many situations.
Single quotes are a basic feature of shell syntax that people expect to
work. They are also more convenient for writing literal code expressions
with less escaping.
there is a very confusing warning in the Nixpkgs manual that
mischaracterises `nix-env` behavior, and this example shows what's
really happening.
note that it doesn't use `pkgs.runCommand` or other `pkgs.stdenv`
facilities, as deep down those set `meta.outputsToInstall` to very
particular defaults that do not generally apply to Nix.
this is a pure reformatting, contents were not changed
one sentence per line makes reviewing diffs and making suggestions much
more convenient. the indentation was an artifat of the DocBook
migration.
