2020-07-22 17:17:48 -04:00
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# Release 1.0 (2012-05-11)
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There have been numerous improvements and bug fixes since the previous
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release. Here are the most significant:
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- Nix can now optionally use the Boehm garbage collector. This
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significantly reduces the Nix evaluator’s memory footprint,
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especially when evaluating large NixOS system configurations. It can
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be enabled using the `--enable-gc` configure option.
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- Nix now uses SQLite for its database. This is faster and more
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flexible than the old *ad hoc* format. SQLite is also used to cache
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the manifests in `/nix/var/nix/manifests`, resulting in a
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significant speedup.
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- Nix now has an search path for expressions. The search path is set
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2020-07-23 04:44:54 -04:00
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using the environment variable `NIX_PATH` and the `-I` command line
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2020-07-22 17:17:48 -04:00
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option. In Nix expressions, paths between angle brackets are used to
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specify files that must be looked up in the search path. For
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instance, the expression `<nixpkgs/default.nix>` looks for a file
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`nixpkgs/default.nix` relative to every element in the search path.
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- The new command `nix-build --run-env` builds all dependencies of a
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derivation, then starts a shell in an environment containing all
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variables from the derivation. This is useful for reproducing the
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environment of a derivation for development.
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- The new command `nix-store --verify-path` verifies that the contents
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of a store path have not changed.
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- The new command `nix-store --print-env` prints out the environment
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of a derivation in a format that can be evaluated by a shell.
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- Attribute names can now be arbitrary strings. For instance, you can
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write `{ "foo-1.2" = …; "bla bla" = …; }."bla
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bla"`.
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- Attribute selection can now provide a default value using the `or`
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operator. For instance, the expression `x.y.z or e` evaluates to the
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attribute `x.y.z` if it exists, and `e` otherwise.
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- The right-hand side of the `?` operator can now be an attribute
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path, e.g., `attrs ?
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a.b.c`.
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- On Linux, Nix will now make files in the Nix store immutable on
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filesystems that support it. This prevents accidental modification
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of files in the store by the root user.
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- Nix has preliminary support for derivations with multiple outputs.
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This is useful because it allows parts of a package to be deployed
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and garbage-collected separately. For instance, development parts of
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a package such as header files or static libraries would typically
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not be part of the closure of an application, resulting in reduced
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disk usage and installation time.
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- The Nix store garbage collector is faster and holds the global lock
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for a shorter amount of time.
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- The option `--timeout` (corresponding to the configuration setting
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`build-timeout`) allows you to set an absolute timeout on builds —
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if a build runs for more than the given number of seconds, it is
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terminated. This is useful for recovering automatically from builds
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that are stuck in an infinite loop but keep producing output, and
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for which `--max-silent-time` is ineffective.
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- Nix development has moved to GitHub
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(<https://github.com/NixOS/nix>).
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