Merge branch 'master' into debug-merge

31 files changed, 830 insertions, 345 deletions

diff --git a/doc/manual/src/SUMMARY.md.in b/doc/manual/src/SUMMARY.md.in
index 448fee803..8d9b061ba 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/SUMMARY.md.in
+++ b/doc/manual/src/SUMMARY.md.in
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
     - [Prerequisites](installation/prerequisites-source.md)
     - [Obtaining a Source Distribution](installation/obtaining-source.md)
     - [Building Nix from Source](installation/building-source.md)
+  - [Using Nix within Docker](installation/installing-docker.md)
   - [Security](installation/nix-security.md)
     - [Single-User Mode](installation/single-user.md)
     - [Multi-User Mode](installation/multi-user.md)
@@ -70,6 +71,8 @@
   - [Hacking](contributing/hacking.md)
   - [CLI guideline](contributing/cli-guideline.md)
 - [Release Notes](release-notes/release-notes.md)
+  - [Release X.Y (202?-??-??)](release-notes/rl-next.md)
+  - [Release 2.4 (2021-11-01)](release-notes/rl-2.4.md)
   - [Release 2.3 (2019-09-04)](release-notes/rl-2.3.md)
   - [Release 2.2 (2019-01-11)](release-notes/rl-2.2.md)
   - [Release 2.1 (2018-09-02)](release-notes/rl-2.1.md)
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/command-ref/conf-file-prefix.md b/doc/manual/src/command-ref/conf-file-prefix.md
index 3140170ab..44b7ba86d 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/command-ref/conf-file-prefix.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/command-ref/conf-file-prefix.md
@@ -16,8 +16,9 @@ By default Nix reads settings from the following places:
     will be loaded in reverse order.
 
     Otherwise it will look for `nix/nix.conf` files in `XDG_CONFIG_DIRS`
-    and `XDG_CONFIG_HOME`. If these are unset, it will look in
-    `$HOME/.config/nix.conf`.
+    and `XDG_CONFIG_HOME`. If unset, `XDG_CONFIG_DIRS` defaults to
+    `/etc/xdg`, and `XDG_CONFIG_HOME` defaults to `$HOME/.config`
+    as per [XDG Base Directory Specification](https://specifications.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html).
 
   - If `NIX_CONFIG` is set, its contents is treated as the contents of
     a configuration file.
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/command-ref/env-common.md b/doc/manual/src/command-ref/env-common.md
index b709ca9d1..6e2403461 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/command-ref/env-common.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/command-ref/env-common.md
@@ -10,35 +10,39 @@ Most Nix commands interpret the following environment variables:
     A colon-separated list of directories used to look up Nix
     expressions enclosed in angle brackets (i.e., `<path>`). For
     instance, the value
-    
+
         /home/eelco/Dev:/etc/nixos
-    
+
     will cause Nix to look for paths relative to `/home/eelco/Dev` and
     `/etc/nixos`, in this order. It is also possible to match paths
     against a prefix. For example, the value
-    
+
         nixpkgs=/home/eelco/Dev/nixpkgs-branch:/etc/nixos
-    
+
     will cause Nix to search for `<nixpkgs/path>` in
     `/home/eelco/Dev/nixpkgs-branch/path` and `/etc/nixos/nixpkgs/path`.
-    
+
     If a path in the Nix search path starts with `http://` or
     `https://`, it is interpreted as the URL of a tarball that will be
     downloaded and unpacked to a temporary location. The tarball must
     consist of a single top-level directory. For example, setting
     `NIX_PATH` to
-    
-        nixpkgs=https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/archive/nixos-15.09.tar.gz
-    
-    tells Nix to download the latest revision in the Nixpkgs/NixOS 15.09
-    channel.
-    
-    A following shorthand can be used to refer to the official channels:
-    
-        nixpkgs=channel:nixos-15.09
-    
-    The search path can be extended using the `-I` option, which takes
-    precedence over `NIX_PATH`.
+
+        nixpkgs=https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/archive/master.tar.gz
+
+    tells Nix to download and use the current contents of the
+    `master` branch in the `nixpkgs` repository.
+
+    The URLs of the tarballs from the official nixos.org channels (see
+    [the manual for `nix-channel`](nix-channel.md)) can be abbreviated
+    as `channel:<channel-name>`.  For instance, the following two
+    values of `NIX_PATH` are equivalent:
+
+        nixpkgs=channel:nixos-21.05
+        nixpkgs=https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-21.05/nixexprs.tar.xz
+
+    The Nix search path can also be extended using the `-I` option to
+    many Nix commands, which takes precedence over `NIX_PATH`.
 
   - `NIX_IGNORE_SYMLINK_STORE`\
     Normally, the Nix store directory (typically `/nix/store`) is not
@@ -50,7 +54,7 @@ Most Nix commands interpret the following environment variables:
     builds are deployed to machines where `/nix/store` resolves
     differently. If you are sure that you’re not going to do that, you
     can set `NIX_IGNORE_SYMLINK_STORE` to `1`.
-    
+
     Note that if you’re symlinking the Nix store so that you can put it
     on another file system than the root file system, on Linux you’re
     better off using `bind` mount points, e.g.,
@@ -59,7 +63,7 @@ Most Nix commands interpret the following environment variables:
     $ mkdir /nix
     $ mount -o bind /mnt/otherdisk/nix /nix
     ```
-    
+
     Consult the mount 8 manual page for details.
 
   - `NIX_STORE_DIR`\
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/command-ref/nix-env.md b/doc/manual/src/command-ref/nix-env.md
index 9138fa05a..8d6abaf52 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/command-ref/nix-env.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/command-ref/nix-env.md
@@ -238,7 +238,16 @@ a number of possible ways:
 
 ## Examples
 
-To install a specific version of `gcc` from the active Nix expression:
+To install a package using a specific attribute path from the active Nix expression:
+
+```console
+$ nix-env -iA gcc40mips
+installing `gcc-4.0.2'
+$ nix-env -iA xorg.xorgserver
+installing `xorg-server-1.2.0'
+```
+
+To install a specific version of `gcc` using the derivation name:
 
 ```console
 $ nix-env --install gcc-3.3.2
@@ -246,6 +255,9 @@ installing `gcc-3.3.2'
 uninstalling `gcc-3.1'
 ```
 
+Using attribute path for selecting a package is preferred,
+as it is much faster and there will not be multiple matches.
+
 Note the previously installed version is removed, since
 `--preserve-installed` was not specified.
 
@@ -256,13 +268,6 @@ $ nix-env --install gcc
 installing `gcc-3.3.2'
 ```
 
-To install using a specific attribute:
-
-```console
-$ nix-env -i -A gcc40mips
-$ nix-env -i -A xorg.xorgserver
-```
-
 To install all derivations in the Nix expression `foo.nix`:
 
 ```console
@@ -374,22 +379,29 @@ For the other flags, see `--install`.
 ## Examples
 
 ```console
-$ nix-env --upgrade gcc
+$ nix-env --upgrade -A nixpkgs.gcc
 upgrading `gcc-3.3.1' to `gcc-3.4'
 ```
 
+When there are no updates available, nothing will happen:
+
 ```console
-$ nix-env -u gcc-3.3.2 --always (switch to a specific version)
-upgrading `gcc-3.4' to `gcc-3.3.2'
+$ nix-env --upgrade -A nixpkgs.pan
 ```
 
+Using `-A` is preferred when possible, as it is faster and unambiguous but
+it is also possible to upgrade to a specific version by matching the derivation name:
+
 ```console
-$ nix-env --upgrade pan
-(no upgrades available, so nothing happens)
+$ nix-env -u gcc-3.3.2 --always
+upgrading `gcc-3.4' to `gcc-3.3.2'
 ```
 
+To try to upgrade everything
+(matching packages based on the part of the derivation name without version):
+
 ```console
-$ nix-env -u (try to upgrade everything)
+$ nix-env -u
 upgrading `hello-2.1.2' to `hello-2.1.3'
 upgrading `mozilla-1.2' to `mozilla-1.4'
 ```
@@ -401,7 +413,7 @@ of a derivation `x` by looking at their respective `name` attributes.
 The names (e.g., `gcc-3.3.1` are split into two parts: the package name
 (`gcc`), and the version (`3.3.1`). The version part starts after the
 first dash not followed by a letter. `x` is considered an upgrade of `y`
-if their package names match, and the version of `y` is higher that that
+if their package names match, and the version of `y` is higher than that
 of `x`.
 
 The versions are compared by splitting them into contiguous components
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/command-ref/nix-shell.md b/doc/manual/src/command-ref/nix-shell.md
index dcd7cc70c..873311649 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/command-ref/nix-shell.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/command-ref/nix-shell.md
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
   [`--command` *cmd*]
   [`--run` *cmd*]
   [`--exclude` *regexp*]
-  [--pure]
-  [--keep *name*]
+  [`--pure`]
+  [`--keep` *name*]
   {{`--packages` | `-p`} {*packages* | *expressions*} … | [*path*]}
 
 # Description
@@ -78,9 +78,7 @@ All options not listed here are passed to `nix-store
     cleared before the interactive shell is started, so you get an
     environment that more closely corresponds to the “real” Nix build. A
     few variables, in particular `HOME`, `USER` and `DISPLAY`, are
-    retained. Note that (depending on your Bash
-    installation) `/etc/bashrc` is still sourced, so any variables set
-    there will affect the interactive shell.
+    retained.
 
   - `--packages` / `-p` *packages*…\
     Set up an environment in which the specified packages are present.
@@ -112,13 +110,19 @@ shell in which to build it:
 
 ```console
 $ nix-shell '<nixpkgs>' -A pan
-[nix-shell]$ unpackPhase
+[nix-shell]$ eval ${unpackPhase:-unpackPhase}
 [nix-shell]$ cd pan-*
-[nix-shell]$ configurePhase
-[nix-shell]$ buildPhase
+[nix-shell]$ eval ${configurePhase:-configurePhase}
+[nix-shell]$ eval ${buildPhase:-buildPhase}
 [nix-shell]$ ./pan/gui/pan
 ```
 
+The reason we use form `eval ${configurePhase:-configurePhase}` here is because
+those packages that override these phases do so by exporting the overridden
+values in the environment variable of the same name.
+Here bash is being told to either evaluate the contents of 'configurePhase',
+if it exists as a variable, otherwise evaluate the configurePhase function.
+
 To clear the environment first, and do some additional automatic
 initialisation of the interactive shell:
 
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/command-ref/nix-store.md b/doc/manual/src/command-ref/nix-store.md
index 7a131dc02..26292f1bb 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/command-ref/nix-store.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/command-ref/nix-store.md
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ Special exit codes:
 
   - `104`\
     Not deterministic, the build succeeded in check mode but the
-    resulting output is not binary reproducable.
+    resulting output is not binary reproducible.
 
 With the `--keep-going` flag it's possible for multiple failures to
 occur, in this case the 1xx status codes are or combined using binary
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/command-ref/opt-common.md b/doc/manual/src/command-ref/opt-common.md
index 47862bc09..7ee1a26bc 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/command-ref/opt-common.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/command-ref/opt-common.md
@@ -162,11 +162,11 @@ Most Nix commands accept the following command-line options:
     }: ...
     ```
 
-    So if you call this Nix expression (e.g., when you do `nix-env -i
+    So if you call this Nix expression (e.g., when you do `nix-env -iA
     pkgname`), the function will be called automatically using the
     value [`builtins.currentSystem`](../expressions/builtins.md) for
     the `system` argument. You can override this using `--arg`, e.g.,
-    `nix-env -i pkgname --arg system \"i686-freebsd\"`. (Note that
+    `nix-env -iA pkgname --arg system \"i686-freebsd\"`. (Note that
     since the argument is a Nix string literal, you have to escape the
     quotes.)
 
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/contributing/cli-guideline.md b/doc/manual/src/contributing/cli-guideline.md
index 0132867c8..01a1b1e73 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/contributing/cli-guideline.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/contributing/cli-guideline.md
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 ## Goals
 
 Purpose of this document is to provide a clear direction to **help design
-delightful command line** experience. This document contain guidelines to
+delightful command line** experience. This document contains guidelines to
 follow to ensure a consistent and approachable user experience.
 
 ## Overview
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ impacted the most by bad user experience.
 # Help is essential
 
 Help should be built into your command line so that new users can gradually
-discover new features when they need them. 
+discover new features when they need them.
 
 ## Looking for help
 
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ The rules are:
 
 - Help is shown by using `--help` or `help` command (eg `nix` `--``help` or
   `nix help`).
-- For non-COMMANDs (eg. `nix` `--``help`  and `nix store` `--``help`) we **show
+- For non-COMMANDs (eg. `nix` `--``help` and `nix store` `--``help`) we **show
   a summary** of most common use cases. Summary is presented on the STDOUT
   without any use of PAGER.
 - For COMMANDs (eg. `nix init` `--``help` or `nix help init`) we display the
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ $ nix init --template=template#pyton
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Initializing Nix project at `/path/to/here`.
       Select a template for you new project:
-          |> template#pyton
+          |> template#python
              template#python-pip
              template#python-poetry
 ```
@@ -230,17 +230,17 @@ Now **Learn** part of the output is where you educate users. You should only
 show it when you know that a build will take some time and not annoy users of
 the builds that take only few seconds.
 
-Every feature like this should go though a intensive review and testing to
-collect as much a feedback as possible and to fine tune every little detail. If
+Every feature like this should go through an intensive review and testing to
+collect as much feedback as possible and to fine tune every little detail. If
 done right this can be an awesome features beginners and advance users will
 love, but if not done perfectly it will annoy users and leave bad impression.
 
 # Input
 
-Input to a command is provided via `ARGUMENTS` and `OPTIONS`. 
+Input to a command is provided via `ARGUMENTS` and `OPTIONS`.
 
 `ARGUMENTS` represent a required input for a function. When choosing to use
-`ARGUMENT` over function please be aware of the downsides that come with it:
+`ARGUMENTS` over `OPTIONS` please be aware of the downsides that come with it:
 
 - User will need to remember the order of `ARGUMENTS`. This is not a problem if
   there is only one `ARGUMENT`.
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ developer consider the downsides and choose wisely.
 
 ## Naming the `OPTIONS`
 
-Then only naming convention - apart from the ones mentioned in Naming the
+The only naming convention - apart from the ones mentioned in Naming the
 `COMMANDS` section is how flags are named.
 
 Flags are a type of `OPTION` that represent an option that can be turned ON of
@@ -271,12 +271,12 @@ to improve the discoverability of possible input. A new user will most likely
 not know which `ARGUMENTS` and `OPTIONS` are required or which values are
 possible for those options.
 
-In cases, the user might not provide the input or they provide wrong input,
-rather then show the error, prompt a user with an option to find and select
+In case the user does not provide the input or they provide wrong input,
+rather than show the error, prompt a user with an option to find and select
 correct input (see examples).
 
 Prompting is of course not required when TTY is not attached to STDIN. This
-would mean that scripts wont need to handle prompt, but rather handle errors.
+would mean that scripts won't need to handle prompt, but rather handle errors.
 
 A place to use prompt and provide user with interactive select
 
@@ -300,9 +300,9 @@ going to happen.
 ```shell
 $ nix build --option substitutors https://cache.example.org
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
-  Warning! A security related question need to be answered.
+  Warning! A security related question needs to be answered.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
-  The following substitutors will be used to in `my-project`: 
+  The following substitutors will be used to in `my-project`:
     - https://cache.example.org
 
   Do you allow `my-project` to use above mentioned substitutors?
@@ -311,14 +311,14 @@ $ nix build --option substitutors https://cache.example.org
 
 # Output
 
-Terminal output can be quite limiting in many ways. Which should forces us to
+Terminal output can be quite limiting in many ways. Which should force us to
 think about the experience even more. As with every design the output is a
 compromise between being terse and being verbose, between showing help to
 beginners and annoying advance users. For this it is important that we know
 what are the priorities.
 
 Nix command line should be first and foremost written with beginners in mind.
-But users wont stay beginners for long and what was once useful might quickly
+But users won't stay beginners for long and what was once useful might quickly
 become annoying. There is no golden rule that we can give in this guideline
 that would make it easier how to draw a line and find best compromise.
 
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ also allowing them to redirect content to a file. For example:
 ```shell
 $ nix build > build.txt
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
-  Error! Atrribute `bin` missing at (1:94) from string.
+  Error! Attribute `bin` missing at (1:94) from string.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
   1| with import <nixpkgs> { }; (pkgs.runCommandCC or pkgs.runCommand) "shell" { buildInputs = [ (surge.bin) ]; } ""
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@ Above command clearly states that command successfully completed. And in case
 of `nix build`, which is a command that might take some time to complete, it is
 equally important to also show that a command started.
 
-## Text alignment 
+## Text alignment
 
 Text alignment is the number one design element that will present all of the
 Nix commands as a family and not as separate tools glued together.
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ The format we should follow is:
 $ nix COMMAND
    VERB_1 NOUN and other words
   VERB__1 NOUN and other words
-       |> Some details 
+       |> Some details
 ```
 
 Few rules that we can extract from above example:
@@ -444,13 +444,13 @@ is not even notable, therefore relying on it wouldn’t make much sense.
 
 **The bright text is much better supported** across terminals and color
 schemes. Most of the time the difference is perceived as if the bright text
-would be bold. 
+would be bold.
 
 ## Colors
 
 Humans are already conditioned by society to attach certain meaning to certain
 colors. While the meaning is not universal, a simple collection of colors is
-used to represent basic emotions. 
+used to represent basic emotions.
 
 Colors that can be used in output
 
@@ -508,7 +508,7 @@ can, with a few key strokes, be changed into and advance introspection tool.
 
 ### Progress
 
-For longer running commands we should provide and overview of the progress.
+For longer running commands we should provide and overview the progress.
 This is shown best in `nix build` example:
 
 ```shell
@@ -553,9 +553,9 @@ going to happen.
 ```shell
 $ nix build --option substitutors https://cache.example.org
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
-  Warning! A security related question need to be answered.
+  Warning! A security related question needs to be answered.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
-  The following substitutors will be used to in `my-project`: 
+  The following substitutors will be used to in `my-project`:
     - https://cache.example.org
 
   Do you allow `my-project` to use above mentioned substitutors?
@@ -566,7 +566,7 @@ $ nix build --option substitutors https://cache.example.org
 
 There are many ways that you can control verbosity.
 
-Verbosity levels are: 
+Verbosity levels are:
 
 - `ERROR` (level 0)
 - `WARN` (level 1)
@@ -586,4 +586,4 @@ There are also two shortcuts, `--debug` to run in `DEBUG` verbosity level and
 
 # Appendix 1: Commands naming exceptions
 
-`nix init` and `nix repl` are well established 
+`nix init` and `nix repl` are well established
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/advanced-attributes.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/advanced-attributes.md
index 5b208df67..000595815 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/advanced-attributes.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/expressions/advanced-attributes.md
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ Derivations can declare some infrequently used optional attributes.
   - `preferLocalBuild`\
     If this attribute is set to `true` and [distributed building is
     enabled](../advanced-topics/distributed-builds.md), then, if
-    possible, the derivaton will be built locally instead of forwarded
+    possible, the derivation will be built locally instead of forwarded
     to a remote machine. This is appropriate for trivial builders
     where the cost of doing a download or remote build would exceed
     the cost of building locally.
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md
index c16b2805f..c631a8453 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-prefix.md
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ scope. Instead, you can access them through the `builtins` built-in
 value, which is a set that contains all built-in functions and values.
 For instance, `derivation` is also available as `builtins.derivation`.
 
-  - `derivation` *attrs*; `builtins.derivation` *attrs*\
-
-    `derivation` is described in [its own section](derivations.md).
-
+<dl>
+  <dt><code>derivation <var>attrs</var></code>;
+      <code>builtins.derivation <var>attrs</var></code></dt>
+  <dd><p><var>derivation</var> is described in
+         <a href="derivations.md">its own section</a>.</p></dd>
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-suffix.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-suffix.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a74db2857
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/manual/src/expressions/builtins-suffix.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+</dl>
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/expression-syntax.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/expression-syntax.md
index 2a1306e32..6b93e692c 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/expression-syntax.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/expressions/expression-syntax.md
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ elements (referenced from the figure by number):
     called with three arguments: `stdenv`, `fetchurl`, and `perl`. They
     are needed to build Hello, but we don't know how to build them here;
     that's why they are function arguments. `stdenv` is a package that
-    is used by almost all Nix Packages packages; it provides a
+    is used by almost all Nix Packages; it provides a
     “standard” environment consisting of the things you would expect
     in a basic Unix environment: a C/C++ compiler (GCC, to be precise),
     the Bash shell, fundamental Unix tools such as `cp`, `grep`, `tar`,
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-operators.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-operators.md
index b7fd6f4c6..268b44f4c 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-operators.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-operators.md
@@ -17,12 +17,12 @@ order of precedence (from strongest to weakest binding).
 | String Concatenation     | *string1* `+` *string2*             | left          | String concatenation.                                                                                                                                                                                                         | 7          |
 | Not                      | `!` *e*                             | none          | Boolean negation.                                                                                                                                                                                                             | 8          |
 | Update                   | *e1* `//` *e2*                      | right         | Return a set consisting of the attributes in *e1* and *e2* (with the latter taking precedence over the former in case of equally named attributes).                                                                           | 9          |
-| Less Than                | *e1* `<` *e2*,                      | none          | Arithmetic comparison.                                                                                                                                                                                                        | 10         |
-| Less Than or Equal To    | *e1* `<=` *e2*                      | none          | Arithmetic comparison.                                                                                                                                                                                                        | 10         |
-| Greater Than             | *e1* `>` *e2*                       | none          | Arithmetic comparison.                                                                                                                                                                                                        | 10         |
-| Greater Than or Equal To | *e1* `>=` *e2*                      | none          | Arithmetic comparison.                                                                                                                                                                                                        | 10         |
+| Less Than                | *e1* `<` *e2*,                      | none          | Arithmetic/lexicographic comparison.                                                                                                                                                                                                        | 10         |
+| Less Than or Equal To    | *e1* `<=` *e2*                      | none          | Arithmetic/lexicographic comparison.                                                                                                                                                                                                        | 10         |
+| Greater Than             | *e1* `>` *e2*                       | none          | Arithmetic/lexicographic comparison.                                                                                                                                                                                                        | 10         |
+| Greater Than or Equal To | *e1* `>=` *e2*                      | none          | Arithmetic/lexicographic comparison.                                                                                                                                                                                                        | 10         |
 | Equality                 | *e1* `==` *e2*                      | none          | Equality.                                                                                                                                                                                                                     | 11         |
 | Inequality               | *e1* `!=` *e2*                      | none          | Inequality.                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | 11         |
 | Logical AND              | *e1* `&&` *e2*                      | left          | Logical AND.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  | 12         |
-| Logical OR               | *e1* `\|\|` *e2*                    | left          | Logical OR.                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | 13         |
-| Logical Implication      | *e1* `->` *e2*                      | none          | Logical implication (equivalent to `!e1 \|\| e2`).                                                                                                                                                                            | 14         |
+| Logical OR               | *e1* <code>&#124;&#124;</code> *e2* | left          | Logical OR.                                                                                                                                                                                                                   | 13         |
+| Logical Implication      | *e1* `->` *e2*                      | none          | Logical implication (equivalent to <code>!e1 &#124;&#124; e2</code>).                                                                                                                                                                            | 14         |
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-values.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-values.md
index ce31029cc..75ae9f2eb 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-values.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/expressions/language-values.md
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ Nix has the following basic data types:
     the start of each line. To be precise, it strips from each line a
     number of spaces equal to the minimal indentation of the string as a
     whole (disregarding the indentation of empty lines). For instance,
-    the first and second line are indented two space, while the third
+    the first and second line are indented two spaces, while the third
     line is indented four spaces. Thus, two spaces are stripped from
     each line, so the resulting string is
     
@@ -139,6 +139,13 @@ Nix has the following basic data types:
     environment variable `NIX_PATH` will be searched for the given file
     or directory name.
 
+    Antiquotation is supported in any paths except those in angle brackets.
+    `./${foo}-${bar}.nix` is a more convenient way of writing 
+    `./. + "/" + foo + "-" + bar + ".nix"` or `./. + "/${foo}-${bar}.nix"`. At
+    least one slash must appear *before* any antiquotations for this to be
+    recognized as a path. `a.${foo}/b.${bar}` is a syntactically valid division
+    operation. `./a.${foo}/b.${bar}` is a path.
+
   - *Booleans* with values `true` and `false`.
 
   - The null value, denoted as `null`.
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/expressions/simple-building-testing.md b/doc/manual/src/expressions/simple-building-testing.md
index 6f730a936..7f0d8f841 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/expressions/simple-building-testing.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/expressions/simple-building-testing.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Building and Testing
 
-You can now try to build Hello. Of course, you could do `nix-env -i
+You can now try to build Hello. Of course, you could do `nix-env -f . -iA
 hello`, but you may not want to install a possibly broken package just
 yet. The best way to test the package is by using the command
 `nix-build`, which builds a Nix expression and creates a symlink named
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/installation/building-source.md b/doc/manual/src/installation/building-source.md
index d21a51a82..ed1efffd8 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/installation/building-source.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/installation/building-source.md
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 # Building Nix from Source
 
-After unpacking or checking out the Nix sources, issue the following
-commands:
+After cloning Nix's Git repository, issue the following commands:
 
 ```console
+$ ./bootstrap.sh
 $ ./configure options...
 $ make
 $ make install
@@ -11,13 +11,6 @@ $ make install
 
 Nix requires GNU Make so you may need to invoke `gmake` instead.
 
-When building from the Git repository, these should be preceded by the
-command:
-
-```console
-$ ./bootstrap.sh
-```
-
 The installation path can be specified by passing the `--prefix=prefix`
 to `configure`. The default installation directory is `/usr/local`. You
 can change this to any location you like. You must have write permission
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/installation/env-variables.md b/doc/manual/src/installation/env-variables.md
index 4a49897e4..bb35c0e9f 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/installation/env-variables.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/installation/env-variables.md
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ export NIX_SSL_CERT_FILE=/etc/ssl/my-certificate-bundle.crt
 > **Note**
 > 
 > You must not add the export and then do the install, as the Nix
-> installer will detect the presense of Nix configuration, and abort.
+> installer will detect the presence of Nix configuration, and abort.
 
 ## `NIX_SSL_CERT_FILE` with macOS and the Nix daemon
 
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/installation/installing-binary.md b/doc/manual/src/installation/installing-binary.md
index ae7fd458b..96fa34635 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/installation/installing-binary.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/installation/installing-binary.md
@@ -1,18 +1,26 @@
 # Installing a Binary Distribution
 
-If you are using Linux or macOS versions up to 10.14 (Mojave), the
-easiest way to install Nix is to run the following command:
+The easiest way to install Nix is to run the following command:
 
 ```console
 $ sh <(curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install)
 ```
 
-If you're using macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or newer, consult [the macOS
-installation instructions](#macos-installation) before installing.
+This will run the installer interactively (causing it to explain what
+it is doing more explicitly), and perform the default "type" of install
+for your platform:
+- single-user on Linux
+- multi-user on macOS
 
-As of Nix 2.1.0, the Nix installer will always default to creating a
-single-user installation, however opting in to the multi-user
-installation is highly recommended.
+  > **Notes on read-only filesystem root in macOS 10.15 Catalina +**
+  > 
+  > - It took some time to support this cleanly. You may see posts,
+  >   examples, and tutorials using obsolete workarounds.
+  > - Supporting it cleanly made macOS installs too complex to qualify
+  >   as single-user, so this type is no longer supported on macOS.
+
+We recommend the multi-user install if it supports your platform and
+you can authenticate with `sudo`.
 
 # Single User Installation
 
@@ -50,9 +58,9 @@ $ rm -rf /nix
 The multi-user Nix installation creates system users, and a system
 service for the Nix daemon.
 
-  - Linux running systemd, with SELinux disabled
-
-  - macOS
+**Supported Systems**
+- Linux running systemd, with SELinux disabled
+- macOS
 
 You can instruct the installer to perform a multi-user installation on
 your system:
@@ -96,165 +104,28 @@ sudo rm /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.nixos.nix-daemon.plist
 There may also be references to Nix in `/etc/profile`, `/etc/bashrc`,
 and `/etc/zshrc` which you may remove.
 
-# macOS Installation
-
-Starting with macOS 10.15 (Catalina), the root filesystem is read-only.
-This means `/nix` can no longer live on your system volume, and that
-you'll need a workaround to install Nix.
-
-The recommended approach, which creates an unencrypted APFS volume for
-your Nix store and a "synthetic" empty directory to mount it over at
-`/nix`, is least likely to impair Nix or your system.
-
-> **Note**
-> 
-> With all separate-volume approaches, it's possible something on your
-> system (particularly daemons/services and restored apps) may need
-> access to your Nix store before the volume is mounted. Adding
-> additional encryption makes this more likely.
-
-If you're using a recent Mac with a [T2
-chip](https://www.apple.com/euro/mac/shared/docs/Apple_T2_Security_Chip_Overview.pdf),
-your drive will still be encrypted at rest (in which case "unencrypted"
-is a bit of a misnomer). To use this approach, just install Nix with:
-
-```console
-$ sh <(curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install) --darwin-use-unencrypted-nix-store-volume
-```
-
-If you don't like the sound of this, you'll want to weigh the other
-approaches and tradeoffs detailed in this section.
-
-> **Note**
-> 
-> All of the known workarounds have drawbacks, but we hope better
-> solutions will be available in the future. Some that we have our eye
-> on are:
-> 
-> 1.  A true firmlink would enable the Nix store to live on the primary
->     data volume without the build problems caused by the symlink
->     approach. End users cannot currently create true firmlinks.
-> 
-> 2.  If the Nix store volume shared FileVault encryption with the
->     primary data volume (probably by using the same volume group and
->     role), FileVault encryption could be easily supported by the
->     installer without requiring manual setup by each user.
-
-## Change the Nix store path prefix
-
-Changing the default prefix for the Nix store is a simple approach which
-enables you to leave it on your root volume, where it can take full
-advantage of FileVault encryption if enabled. Unfortunately, this
-approach also opts your device out of some benefits that are enabled by
-using the same prefix across systems:
-
-  - Your system won't be able to take advantage of the binary cache
-    (unless someone is able to stand up and support duplicate caching
-    infrastructure), which means you'll spend more time waiting for
-    builds.
-
-  - It's harder to build and deploy packages to Linux systems.
-
-It would also possible (and often requested) to just apply this change
-ecosystem-wide, but it's an intrusive process that has side effects we
-want to avoid for now.
-
-## Use a separate encrypted volume
-
-If you like, you can also add encryption to the recommended approach
-taken by the installer. You can do this by pre-creating an encrypted
-volume before you run the installer--or you can run the installer and
-encrypt the volume it creates later.
-
-In either case, adding encryption to a second volume isn't quite as
-simple as enabling FileVault for your boot volume. Before you dive in,
-there are a few things to weigh:
-
-1.  The additional volume won't be encrypted with your existing
-    FileVault key, so you'll need another mechanism to decrypt the
-    volume.
-
-2.  You can store the password in Keychain to automatically decrypt the
-    volume on boot--but it'll have to wait on Keychain and may not mount
-    before your GUI apps restore. If any of your launchd agents or apps
-    depend on Nix-installed software (for example, if you use a
-    Nix-installed login shell), the restore may fail or break.
-    
-    On a case-by-case basis, you may be able to work around this problem
-    by using `wait4path` to block execution until your executable is
-    available.
-    
-    It's also possible to decrypt and mount the volume earlier with a
-    login hook--but this mechanism appears to be deprecated and its
-    future is unclear.
-
-3.  You can hard-code the password in the clear, so that your store
-    volume can be decrypted before Keychain is available.
-
-If you are comfortable navigating these tradeoffs, you can encrypt the
-volume with something along the lines of:
-
-```console
-$ diskutil apfs enableFileVault /nix -user disk
-```
-
-## Symlink the Nix store to a custom location
-
-Another simple approach is using `/etc/synthetic.conf` to symlink the
-Nix store to the data volume. This option also enables your store to
-share any configured FileVault encryption. Unfortunately, builds that
-resolve the symlink may leak the canonical path or even fail.
-
-Because of these downsides, we can't recommend this approach.
-
-## Notes on the recommended approach
-
-This section goes into a little more detail on the recommended approach.
-You don't need to understand it to run the installer, but it can serve
-as a helpful reference if you run into trouble.
-
-1.  In order to compose user-writable locations into the new read-only
-    system root, Apple introduced a new concept called `firmlinks`,
-    which it describes as a "bi-directional wormhole" between two
-    filesystems. You can see the current firmlinks in
-    `/usr/share/firmlinks`. Unfortunately, firmlinks aren't (currently?)
-    user-configurable.
-    
-    For special cases like NFS mount points or package manager roots,
-    [synthetic.conf(5)](https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/System/Conceptual/ManPages_iPhoneOS/man5/synthetic.conf.5.html)
-    supports limited user-controlled file-creation (of symlinks, and
-    synthetic empty directories) at `/`. To create a synthetic empty
-    directory for mounting at `/nix`, add the following line to
-    `/etc/synthetic.conf` (create it if necessary):
-    
-        nix
-
-2.  This configuration is applied at boot time, but you can use
-    `apfs.util` to trigger creation (not deletion) of new entries
-    without a reboot:
-    
-    ```console
-    $ /System/Library/Filesystems/apfs.fs/Contents/Resources/apfs.util -B
-    ```
-
-3.  Create the new APFS volume with diskutil:
-    
-    ```console
-    $ sudo diskutil apfs addVolume diskX APFS 'Nix Store' -mountpoint /nix
-    ```
-
-4.  Using `vifs`, add the new mount to `/etc/fstab`. If it doesn't
-    already have other entries, it should look something like:
-    
-        #
-        # Warning - this file should only be modified with vifs(8)
-        #
-        # Failure to do so is unsupported and may be destructive.
-        #
-        LABEL=Nix\040Store /nix apfs rw,nobrowse
-    
-    The nobrowse setting will keep Spotlight from indexing this volume,
-    and keep it from showing up on your desktop.
+# macOS Installation <a name="sect-macos-installation-change-store-prefix"></a><a name="sect-macos-installation-encrypted-volume"></a><a name="sect-macos-installation-symlink"></a><a name="sect-macos-installation-recommended-notes"></a>
+<!-- Note: anchors above to catch permalinks to old explanations -->
+
+We believe we have ironed out how to cleanly support the read-only root
+on modern macOS. New installs will do this automatically, and you can
+also re-run a new installer to convert your existing setup.
+
+This section previously detailed the situation, options, and trade-offs,
+but it now only outlines what the installer does. You don't need to know
+this to run the installer, but it may help if you run into trouble:
+
+- create a new APFS volume for your Nix store
+- update `/etc/synthetic.conf` to direct macOS to create a "synthetic"
+  empty root directory to mount your volume
+- specify mount options for the volume in `/etc/fstab`
+- if you have FileVault enabled
+    - generate an encryption password
+    - put it in your system Keychain
+    - use it to encrypt the volume
+- create a system LaunchDaemon to mount this volume early enough in the
+  boot process to avoid problems loading or restoring any programs that
+  need access to your Nix store
 
 # Installing a pinned Nix version from a URL
 
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/installation/installing-docker.md b/doc/manual/src/installation/installing-docker.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3d2255b7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/manual/src/installation/installing-docker.md
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+# Using Nix within Docker
+
+To run the latest stable release of Nix with Docker run the following command:
+
+```console
+$ docker -ti run nixos/nix
+Unable to find image 'nixos/nix:latest' locally
+latest: Pulling from nixos/nix
+5843afab3874: Pull complete
+b52bf13f109c: Pull complete
+1e2415612aa3: Pull complete
+Digest: sha256:27f6e7f60227e959ee7ece361f75d4844a40e1cc6878b6868fe30140420031ff
+Status: Downloaded newer image for nixos/nix:latest
+35ca4ada6e96:/# nix --version
+nix (Nix) 2.3.12
+35ca4ada6e96:/# exit
+```
+
+# What is included in Nix' Docker image?
+
+The official Docker image is created using `pkgs.dockerTools.buildLayeredImage`
+(and not with `Dockerfile` as it is usual with Docker images). You can still
+base your custom Docker image on it as you would do with any other Docker
+image.
+
+The Docker image is also not based on any other image and includes minimal set
+of runtime dependencies that are required to use Nix:
+
+ - pkgs.nix
+ - pkgs.bashInteractive
+ - pkgs.coreutils-full
+ - pkgs.gnutar
+ - pkgs.gzip
+ - pkgs.gnugrep
+ - pkgs.which
+ - pkgs.curl
+ - pkgs.less
+ - pkgs.wget
+ - pkgs.man
+ - pkgs.cacert.out
+ - pkgs.findutils
+
+# Docker image with the latest development version of Nix
+
+To get the latest image that was built by [Hydra](https://hydra.nixos.org) run
+the following command:
+
+```console
+$ curl -L https://hydra.nixos.org/job/nix/master/dockerImage.x86_64-linux/latest/download/1 | docker load
+$ docker run -ti nix:2.5pre20211105
+```
+
+You can also build a Docker image from source yourself:
+
+```console
+$ nix build ./\#hydraJobs.dockerImage.x86_64-linux
+$ docker load -i ./result
+$ docker run -ti nix:2.5pre20211105
+```
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/installation/installing-source.md b/doc/manual/src/installation/installing-source.md
index e52d38a03..09b4e4887 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/installation/installing-source.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/installation/installing-source.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 # Installing Nix from Source
 
-If no binary package is available, you can download and compile a source
-distribution.
+If no binary package is available or if you want to hack on Nix, you
+can build Nix from its Git repository.
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/installation/obtaining-source.md b/doc/manual/src/installation/obtaining-source.md
index 0a906e390..da05d243d 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/installation/obtaining-source.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/installation/obtaining-source.md
@@ -1,14 +1,9 @@
-# Obtaining a Source Distribution
+# Obtaining the Source
 
-The source tarball of the most recent stable release can be downloaded
-from the [Nix homepage](http://nixos.org/nix/download.html). You can
-also grab the [most recent development
-release](http://hydra.nixos.org/job/nix/master/release/latest-finished#tabs-constituents).
-
-Alternatively, the most recent sources of Nix can be obtained from its
-[Git repository](https://github.com/NixOS/nix). For example, the
-following command will check out the latest revision into a directory
-called `nix`:
+The most recent sources of Nix can be obtained from its [Git
+repository](https://github.com/NixOS/nix). For example, the following
+command will check out the latest revision into a directory called
+`nix`:
 
 ```console
 $ git clone https://github.com/NixOS/nix
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/installation/prerequisites-source.md b/doc/manual/src/installation/prerequisites-source.md
index 6825af707..0323a4f55 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/installation/prerequisites-source.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/installation/prerequisites-source.md
@@ -2,9 +2,8 @@
 
   - GNU Autoconf (<https://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf/>) and the
     autoconf-archive macro collection
-    (<https://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf-archive/>). These are only
-    needed to run the bootstrap script, and are not necessary if your
-    source distribution came with a pre-built `./configure` script.
+    (<https://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf-archive/>). These are
+    needed to run the bootstrap script.
 
   - GNU Make.
 
@@ -26,15 +25,6 @@
     available for download from the official repository
     <https://github.com/google/brotli>.
 
-  - The bzip2 compressor program and the `libbz2` library. Thus you must
-    have bzip2 installed, including development headers and libraries.
-    If your distribution does not provide these, you can obtain bzip2
-    from
-    <https://sourceware.org/bzip2/>.
-
-  - `liblzma`, which is provided by XZ Utils. If your distribution does
-    not provide this, you can get it from <https://tukaani.org/xz/>.
-
   - cURL and its library. If your distribution does not provide it, you
     can get it from <https://curl.haxx.se/>.
 
@@ -61,8 +51,7 @@
     you need version 2.5.35, which is available on
     [SourceForge](http://lex.sourceforge.net/). Slightly older versions
     may also work, but ancient versions like the ubiquitous 2.5.4a
-    won't. Note that these are only required if you modify the parser or
-    when you are building from the Git repository.
+    won't.
 
   - The `libseccomp` is used to provide syscall filtering on Linux. This
     is an optional dependency and can be disabled passing a
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/introduction.md b/doc/manual/src/introduction.md
index d68445c95..d87487a07 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/introduction.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/introduction.md
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ there after an upgrade.  This means that you can _roll back_ to the
 old version:
 
 ```console
-$ nix-env --upgrade some-packages
+$ nix-env --upgrade -A nixpkgs.some-package
 $ nix-env --rollback
 ```
 
@@ -122,12 +122,12 @@ Nix expressions generally describe how to build a package from
 source, so an installation action like
 
 ```console
-$ nix-env --install firefox
+$ nix-env --install -A nixpkgs.firefox
 ```
 
 _could_ cause quite a bit of build activity, as not only Firefox but
 also all its dependencies (all the way up to the C library and the
-compiler) would have to built, at least if they are not already in the
+compiler) would have to be built, at least if they are not already in the
 Nix store.  This is a _source deployment model_.  For most users,
 building from source is not very pleasant as it takes far too long.
 However, Nix can automatically skip building from source and instead
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/package-management/basic-package-mgmt.md b/doc/manual/src/package-management/basic-package-mgmt.md
index 9702a29eb..50c6d3c2d 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/package-management/basic-package-mgmt.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/package-management/basic-package-mgmt.md
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ collection; you could write your own Nix expressions based on Nixpkgs,
 or completely new ones.)
 
 You can manually download the latest version of Nixpkgs from
-<http://nixos.org/nixpkgs/download.html>. However, it’s much more
+<https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs>. However, it’s much more
 convenient to use the Nixpkgs [*channel*](channels.md), since it makes
 it easy to stay up to date with new versions of Nixpkgs. Nixpkgs is
 automatically added to your list of “subscribed” channels when you
@@ -47,41 +47,45 @@ $ nix-channel --update
 You can view the set of available packages in Nixpkgs:
 
 ```console
-$ nix-env -qa
-aterm-2.2
-bash-3.0
-binutils-2.15
-bison-1.875d
-blackdown-1.4.2
-bzip2-1.0.2
+$ nix-env -qaP
+nixpkgs.aterm                       aterm-2.2
+nixpkgs.bash                        bash-3.0
+nixpkgs.binutils                    binutils-2.15
+nixpkgs.bison                       bison-1.875d
+nixpkgs.blackdown                   blackdown-1.4.2
+nixpkgs.bzip2                       bzip2-1.0.2
 …
 ```
 
-The flag `-q` specifies a query operation, and `-a` means that you want
+The flag `-q` specifies a query operation, `-a` means that you want
 to show the “available” (i.e., installable) packages, as opposed to the
-installed packages. If you downloaded Nixpkgs yourself, or if you
-checked it out from GitHub, then you need to pass the path to your
-Nixpkgs tree using the `-f` flag:
+installed packages, and `-P` prints the attribute paths that can be used
+to unambiguously select a package for installation (listed in the first column).
+If you downloaded Nixpkgs yourself, or if you checked it out from GitHub,
+then you need to pass the path to your Nixpkgs tree using the `-f` flag:
 
 ```console
-$ nix-env -qaf /path/to/nixpkgs
+$ nix-env -qaPf /path/to/nixpkgs
+aterm                               aterm-2.2
+bash                                bash-3.0
+…
 ```
 
 where */path/to/nixpkgs* is where you’ve unpacked or checked out
 Nixpkgs.
 
-You can select specific packages by name:
+You can filter the packages by name:
 
 ```console
-$ nix-env -qa firefox
-firefox-34.0.5
-firefox-with-plugins-34.0.5
+$ nix-env -qaP firefox
+nixpkgs.firefox-esr                 firefox-91.3.0esr
+nixpkgs.firefox                     firefox-94.0.1
 ```
 
 and using regular expressions:
 
 ```console
-$ nix-env -qa 'firefox.*'
+$ nix-env -qaP 'firefox.*'
 ```
 
 It is also possible to see the *status* of available packages, i.e.,
@@ -89,11 +93,11 @@ whether they are installed into the user environment and/or present in
 the system:
 
 ```console
-$ nix-env -qas
+$ nix-env -qaPs
 …
--PS bash-3.0
---S binutils-2.15
-IPS bison-1.875d
+-PS  nixpkgs.bash                bash-3.0
+--S  nixpkgs.binutils            binutils-2.15
+IPS  nixpkgs.bison               bison-1.875d
 …
 ```
 
@@ -106,13 +110,13 @@ which is Nix’s mechanism for doing binary deployment. It just means that
 Nix knows that it can fetch a pre-built package from somewhere
 (typically a network server) instead of building it locally.
 
-You can install a package using `nix-env -i`. For instance,
+You can install a package using `nix-env -iA`. For instance,
 
 ```console
-$ nix-env -i subversion
+$ nix-env -iA nixpkgs.subversion
 ```
 
-will install the package called `subversion` (which is, of course, the
+will install the package called `subversion` from `nixpkgs` channel (which is, of course, the
 [Subversion version management system](http://subversion.tigris.org/)).
 
 > **Note**
@@ -122,7 +126,7 @@ will install the package called `subversion` (which is, of course, the
 > binary cache <https://cache.nixos.org>; it contains binaries for most
 > packages in Nixpkgs. Only if no binary is available in the binary
 > cache, Nix will build the package from source. So if `nix-env
-> -i subversion` results in Nix building stuff from source, then either
+> -iA nixpkgs.subversion` results in Nix building stuff from source, then either
 > the package is not built for your platform by the Nixpkgs build
 > servers, or your version of Nixpkgs is too old or too new. For
 > instance, if you have a very recent checkout of Nixpkgs, then the
@@ -133,7 +137,10 @@ will install the package called `subversion` (which is, of course, the
 > using a Git checkout of the Nixpkgs tree), you will get binaries for
 > most packages.
 
-Naturally, packages can also be uninstalled:
+Naturally, packages can also be uninstalled. Unlike when installing, you will
+need to use the derivation name (though the version part can be omitted),
+instead of the attribute path, as `nix-env` does not record which attribute
+was used for installing:
 
 ```console
 $ nix-env -e subversion
@@ -143,7 +150,7 @@ Upgrading to a new version is just as easy. If you have a new release of
 Nix Packages, you can do:
 
 ```console
-$ nix-env -u subversion
+$ nix-env -uA nixpkgs.subversion
 ```
 
 This will *only* upgrade Subversion if there is a “newer” version in the
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/package-management/binary-cache-substituter.md b/doc/manual/src/package-management/binary-cache-substituter.md
index bdc5038fc..ef738794b 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/package-management/binary-cache-substituter.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/package-management/binary-cache-substituter.md
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ The daemon that handles binary cache requests via HTTP, `nix-serve`, is
 not part of the Nix distribution, but you can install it from Nixpkgs:
 
 ```console
-$ nix-env -i nix-serve
+$ nix-env -iA nixpkgs.nix-serve
 ```
 
 You can then start the server, listening for HTTP connections on
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ On the client side, you can tell Nix to use your binary cache using
 `--option extra-binary-caches`, e.g.:
 
 ```console
-$ nix-env -i firefox --option extra-binary-caches http://avalon:8080/
+$ nix-env -iA nixpkgs.firefox --option extra-binary-caches http://avalon:8080/
 ```
 
 The option `extra-binary-caches` tells Nix to use this binary cache in
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/package-management/garbage-collection.md b/doc/manual/src/package-management/garbage-collection.md
index fecb30fd6..29a3b3101 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/package-management/garbage-collection.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/package-management/garbage-collection.md
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ collector as follows:
 $ nix-store --gc
 ```
 
-The behaviour of the gargage collector is affected by the
+The behaviour of the garbage collector is affected by the
 `keep-derivations` (default: true) and `keep-outputs` (default: false)
 options in the Nix configuration file. The defaults will ensure that all
 derivations that are build-time dependencies of garbage collector roots
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/package-management/profiles.md b/doc/manual/src/package-management/profiles.md
index fbbfb7320..d1a2580d4 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/package-management/profiles.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/package-management/profiles.md
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ just Subversion 1.1.2 (arrows in the figure indicate symlinks). This
 would be what we would obtain if we had done
 
 ```console
-$ nix-env -i subversion
+$ nix-env -iA nixpkgs.subversion
 ```
 
 on a set of Nix expressions that contained Subversion 1.1.2.
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ environment is generated based on the current one. For instance,
 generation 43 was created from generation 42 when we did
 
 ```console
-$ nix-env -i subversion firefox
+$ nix-env -iA nixpkgs.subversion nixpkgs.firefox
 ```
 
 on a set of Nix expressions that contained Firefox and a new version of
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ All `nix-env` operations work on the profile pointed to by
 (abbreviation `-p`):
 
 ```console
-$ nix-env -p /nix/var/nix/profiles/other-profile -i subversion
+$ nix-env -p /nix/var/nix/profiles/other-profile -iA nixpkgs.subversion
 ```
 
 This will *not* change the `~/.nix-profile` symlink.
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/package-management/ssh-substituter.md b/doc/manual/src/package-management/ssh-substituter.md
index 6e5e258bc..c59933f61 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/package-management/ssh-substituter.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/package-management/ssh-substituter.md
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ automatically fetching any store paths in Firefox’s closure if they are
 available on the server `avalon`:
 
 ```console
-$ nix-env -i firefox --substituters ssh://alice@avalon
+$ nix-env -iA nixpkgs.firefox --substituters ssh://alice@avalon
 ```
 
 This works similar to the binary cache substituter that Nix usually
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/quick-start.md b/doc/manual/src/quick-start.md
index 71205923b..b54e73500 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/quick-start.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/quick-start.md
@@ -19,19 +19,19 @@ to subsequent chapters.
    channel:
 
    ```console
-   $ nix-env -qa
-   docbook-xml-4.3
-   docbook-xml-4.5
-   firefox-33.0.2
-   hello-2.9
-   libxslt-1.1.28
+   $ nix-env -qaP
+   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
    …
    ```
 
 1. Install some packages from the channel:
 
    ```console
-   $ nix-env -i hello
+   $ nix-env -iA nixpkgs.hello
    ```
 
    This should download pre-built packages; it should not build them
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/release-notes/rl-2.4.md b/doc/manual/src/release-notes/rl-2.4.md
index f7ab9f6ad..70b715053 100644
--- a/doc/manual/src/release-notes/rl-2.4.md
+++ b/doc/manual/src/release-notes/rl-2.4.md
@@ -1,8 +1,539 @@
-# Release 2.4 (202X-XX-XX)
-
-  - It is now an error to modify the `plugin-files` setting via a
-    command-line flag that appears after the first non-flag argument
-    to any command, including a subcommand to `nix`. For example,
-    `nix-instantiate default.nix --plugin-files ""` must now become
-    `nix-instantiate --plugin-files "" default.nix`.
-  - Plugins that add new `nix` subcommands are now actually respected.
+# Release 2.4 (2021-11-01)
+
+This is the first release in more than two years and is the result of
+more than 2800 commits from 195 contributors since release 2.3.
+
+## Highlights
+
+* Nix's **error messages** have been improved a lot. For instance,
+  evaluation errors now point out the location of the error:
+
+  ```
+  $ nix build
+  error: undefined variable 'bzip3'
+
+         at /nix/store/449lv242z0zsgwv95a8124xi11sp419f-source/flake.nix:88:13:
+
+             87|           [ curl
+             88|             bzip3 xz brotli editline
+               |             ^
+             89|             openssl sqlite
+  ```
+
+* The **`nix` command** has seen a lot of work and is now almost at
+  feature parity with the old command-line interface (the `nix-*`
+  commands). It aims to be [more modern, consistent and pleasant to
+  use](../contributing/cli-guideline.md) than the old CLI. It is still
+  marked as experimental but its interface should not change much
+  anymore in future releases.
+
+* **Flakes** are a new format to package Nix-based projects in a more
+  discoverable, composable, consistent and reproducible way. A flake
+  is just a repository or tarball containing a file named `flake.nix`
+  that specifies dependencies on other flakes and returns any Nix
+  assets such as packages, Nixpkgs overlays, NixOS modules or CI
+  tests. The new `nix` CLI is primarily based around flakes; for
+  example, a command like `nix run nixpkgs#hello` runs the `hello`
+  application from the `nixpkgs` flake.
+
+  Flakes are currently marked as experimental. For an introduction,
+  see [this blog
+  post](https://www.tweag.io/blog/2020-05-25-flakes/). For detailed
+  information about flake syntax and semantics, see the [`nix flake`
+  manual page](../command-ref/new-cli/nix3-flake.md).
+
+* Nix's store can now be **content-addressed**, meaning that the hash
+  component of a store path is the hash of the path's
+  contents. Previously Nix could only build **input-addressed** store
+  paths, where the hash is computed from the derivation dependency
+  graph. Content-addressing allows deduplication, early cutoff in
+  build systems, and unprivileged closure copying. This is still [an
+  experimental
+  feature](https://discourse.nixos.org/t/content-addressed-nix-call-for-testers/12881).
+
+* The Nix manual has been converted into Markdown, making it easier to
+  contribute. In addition, every `nix` subcommand now has a manual
+  page, documenting every option.
+
+* A new setting that allows **experimental features** to be enabled
+  selectively. This allows us to merge unstable features into Nix more
+  quickly and do more frequent releases.
+
+## Other features
+
+* There are many new `nix` subcommands:
+
+  - `nix develop` is intended to replace `nix-shell`. It has a number
+    of new features:
+
+    * It automatically sets the output environment variables (such as
+      `$out`) to writable locations (such as `./outputs/out`).
+
+    * It can store the environment in a profile. This is useful for
+      offline work.
+
+    * It can run specific phases directly. For instance, `nix develop
+      --build` runs `buildPhase`.
+
+    - It allows dependencies in the Nix store to be "redirected" to
+      arbitrary directories using the `--redirect` flag. This is
+      useful if you want to hack on a package *and* some of its
+      dependencies at the same time.
+
+  - `nix print-dev-env` prints the environment variables and bash
+    functions defined by a derivation. This is useful for users of
+    other shells than bash (especially with `--json`).
+
+  - `nix shell` was previously named `nix run` and is intended to
+    replace `nix-shell -p`, but without the `stdenv` overhead. It
+    simply starts a shell where some packages have been added to
+    `$PATH`.
+
+  - `nix run` (not to be confused with the old subcommand that has
+    been renamed to `nix shell`) runs an "app", a flake output that
+    specifies a command to run, or an eponymous program from a
+    package. For example, `nix run nixpkgs#hello` runs the `hello`
+    program from the `hello` package in `nixpkgs`.
+
+  - `nix flake` is the container for flake-related operations, such as
+    creating a new flake, querying the contents of a flake or updating
+    flake lock files.
+
+  - `nix registry` allows you to query and update the flake registry,
+    which maps identifiers such as `nixpkgs` to concrete flake URLs.
+
+  - `nix profile` is intended to replace `nix-env`. Its main advantage
+    is that it keeps track of the provenance of installed packages
+    (e.g. exactly which flake version a package came from). It also
+    has some helpful subcommands:
+
+    * `nix profile history` shows what packages were added, upgraded
+      or removed between each version of a profile.
+
+    * `nix profile diff-closures` shows the changes between the
+      closures of each version of a profile. This allows you to
+      discover the addition or removal of dependencies or size
+      changes.
+
+    **Warning**: after a profile has been updated using `nix profile`,
+    it is no longer usable with `nix-env`.
+
+  - `nix store diff-closures` shows the differences between the
+    closures of two store paths in terms of the versions and sizes of
+    dependencies in the closures.
+
+  - `nix store make-content-addressable` rewrites an arbitrary closure
+    to make it content-addressed. Such paths can be copied into other
+    stores without requiring signatures.
+
+  - `nix bundle` uses the [`nix-bundle`
+    program](https://github.com/matthewbauer/nix-bundle) to convert a
+    closure into a self-extracting executable.
+
+  - Various other replacements for the old CLI, e.g. `nix store gc`,
+    `nix store delete`, `nix store repair`, `nix nar dump-path`, `nix
+    store prefetch-file`, `nix store prefetch-tarball`, `nix key` and
+    `nix daemon`.
+
+* Nix now has an **evaluation cache** for flake outputs. For example,
+  a second invocation of the command `nix run nixpkgs#firefox` will
+  not need to evaluate the `firefox` attribute because it's already in
+  the evaluation cache. This is made possible by the hermetic
+  evaluation model of flakes.
+
+* The new `--offline` flag disables substituters and causes all
+  locally cached tarballs and repositories to be considered
+  up-to-date.
+
+* The new `--refresh` flag causes all locally cached tarballs and
+  repositories to be considered out-of-date.
+
+* Many `nix` subcommands now have a `--json` option to produce
+  machine-readable output.
+
+* `nix repl` has a new `:doc` command to show documentation about
+  builtin functions (e.g. `:doc builtins.map`).
+
+* Binary cache stores now have an option `index-debug-info` to create
+  an index of DWARF debuginfo files for use by
+  [`dwarffs`](https://github.com/edolstra/dwarffs).
+
+* To support flakes, Nix now has an extensible mechanism for fetching
+  source trees. Currently it has the following backends:
+
+  * Git repositories
+
+  * Mercurial repositories
+
+  * GitHub and GitLab repositories (an optimisation for faster
+    fetching than Git)
+
+  * Tarballs
+
+  * Arbitrary directories
+
+  The fetcher infrastructure is exposed via flake input specifications
+  and via the `fetchTree` built-in.
+
+* **Languages changes**: the only new language feature is that you can
+  now have antiquotations in paths, e.g. `./${foo}` instead of `./. +
+  foo`.
+
+* **New built-in functions**:
+
+  - `builtins.fetchTree` allows fetching a source tree using any
+    backends supported by the fetcher infrastructure. It subsumes the
+    functionality of existing built-ins like `fetchGit`,
+    `fetchMercurial` and `fetchTarball`.
+
+  - `builtins.getFlake` fetches a flake and returns its output
+    attributes. This function should not be used inside flakes! Use
+    flake inputs instead.
+
+  - `builtins.floor` and `builtins.ceil` round a floating-point number
+    down and up, respectively.
+
+* Experimental support for recursive Nix. This means that Nix
+  derivations can now call Nix to build other derivations. This is not
+  in a stable state yet and not well
+  [documented](https://github.com/NixOS/nix/commit/c4d7c76b641d82b2696fef73ce0ac160043c18da).
+
+* The new experimental feature `no-url-literals` disables URL
+  literals. This helps to implement [RFC
+  45](https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/pull/45).
+
+* Nix now uses `libarchive` to decompress and unpack tarballs and zip
+  files, so `tar` is no longer required.
+
+* The priority of substituters can now be overridden using the
+  `priority` substituter setting (e.g. `--substituters
+  'http://cache.nixos.org?priority=100 daemon?priority=10'`).
+
+* `nix edit` now supports non-derivation attributes, e.g. `nix edit
+  .#nixosConfigurations.bla`.
+
+* The `nix` command now provides command line completion for `bash`,
+  `zsh` and `fish`. Since the support for getting completions is built
+  into `nix`, it's easy to add support for other shells.
+
+* The new `--log-format` flag selects what Nix's output looks like. It
+  defaults to a terse progress indicator. There is a new
+  `internal-json` output format for use by other programs.
+
+* `nix eval` has a new `--apply` flag that applies a function to the
+  evaluation result.
+
+* `nix eval` has a new `--write-to` flag that allows it to write a
+  nested attribute set of string leaves to a corresponding directory
+  tree.
+
+* Memory improvements: many operations that add paths to the store or
+  copy paths between stores now run in constant memory.
+
+* Many `nix` commands now support the flag `--derivation` to operate
+  on a `.drv` file itself instead of its outputs.
+
+* There is a new store called `dummy://` that does not support
+  building or adding paths. This is useful if you want to use the Nix
+  evaluator but don't have a Nix store.
+
+* The `ssh-ng://` store now allows substituting paths on the remote,
+  as `ssh://` already did.
+
+* When auto-calling a function with an ellipsis, all arguments are now
+  passed.
+
+* New `nix-shell` features:
+
+  - It preserves the `PS1` environment variable if
+    `NIX_SHELL_PRESERVE_PROMPT` is set.
+
+  - With `-p`, it passes any `--arg`s as Nixpkgs arguments.
+
+  - Support for structured attributes.
+
+* `nix-prefetch-url` has a new `--executable` flag.
+
+* On `x86_64` systems, [`x86_64` microarchitecture
+  levels](https://lwn.net/Articles/844831/) are mapped to additional
+  system types (e.g. `x86_64-v1-linux`).
+
+* The new `--eval-store` flag allows you to use a different store for
+  evaluation than for building or storing the build result. This is
+  primarily useful when you want to query whether something exists in
+  a read-only store, such as a binary cache:
+
+  ```
+  # nix path-info --json --store https://cache.nixos.org \
+    --eval-store auto nixpkgs#hello
+  ```
+
+  (Here `auto` indicates the local store.)
+
+* The Nix daemon has a new low-latency mechanism for copying
+  closures. This is useful when building on remote stores such as
+  `ssh-ng://`.
+
+* Plugins can now register `nix` subcommands.
+
+## Incompatible changes
+
+* The `nix` command is now marked as an experimental feature. This
+  means that you need to add
+
+  ```
+  experimental-features = nix-command
+  ```
+
+  to your `nix.conf` if you want to use it, or pass
+  `--extra-experimental-features nix-command` on the command line.
+
+* The `nix` command no longer has a syntax for referring to packages
+  in a channel. This means that the following no longer works:
+
+  ```console
+  nix build nixpkgs.hello # Nix 2.3
+  ```
+
+  Instead, you can either use the `#` syntax to select a package from
+  a flake, e.g.
+
+  ```console
+  nix build nixpkgs#hello
+  ```
+
+  Or, if you want to use the `nixpkgs` channel in the `NIX_PATH`
+  environment variable:
+
+  ```console
+  nix build -f '<nixpkgs>' hello
+  ```
+
+* The old `nix run` has been renamed to `nix shell`, while there is a
+  new `nix run` that runs a default command. So instead of
+
+  ```console
+  nix run nixpkgs.hello -c hello # Nix 2.3
+  ```
+
+  you should use
+
+  ```console
+  nix shell nixpkgs#hello -c hello
+  ```
+
+  or just
+
+  ```console
+  nix run nixpkgs#hello
+  ```
+
+  if the command you want to run has the same name as the package.
+
+* It is now an error to modify the `plugin-files` setting via a
+  command-line flag that appears after the first non-flag argument to
+  any command, including a subcommand to `nix`. For example,
+  `nix-instantiate default.nix --plugin-files ""` must now become
+  `nix-instantiate --plugin-files "" default.nix`.
+
+* We no longer release source tarballs. If you want to build from
+  source, please build from the tags in the Git repository.
+
+## Contributors
+
+This release has contributions from
+Adam Höse,
+Albert Safin,
+Alex Kovar,
+Alex Zero,
+Alexander Bantyev,
+Alexandre Esteves,
+Alyssa Ross,
+Anatole Lucet,
+Anders Kaseorg,
+Andreas Rammhold,
+Antoine Eiche,
+Antoine Martin,
+Arnout Engelen,
+Arthur Gautier,
+aszlig,
+Ben Burdette,
+Benjamin Hipple,
+Bernardo Meurer,
+Björn Gohla,
+Bjørn Forsman,
+Bob van der Linden,
+Brian Leung,
+Brian McKenna,
+Brian Wignall,
+Bruce Toll,
+Bryan Richter,
+Calle Rosenquist,
+Calvin Loncaric,
+Carlo Nucera,
+Carlos D'Agostino,
+Chaz Schlarp,
+Christian Höppner,
+Christian Kampka,
+Chua Hou,
+Chuck,
+Cole Helbling,
+Daiderd Jordan,
+Dan Callahan,
+Dani,
+Daniel Fitzpatrick,
+Danila Fedorin,
+Daniël de Kok,
+Danny Bautista,
+DavHau,
+David McFarland,
+Dima,
+Domen Kožar,
+Dominik Schrempf,
+Dominique Martinet,
+dramforever,
+Dustin DeWeese,
+edef,
+Eelco Dolstra,
+Emilio Karakey,
+Emily,
+Eric Culp,
+Ersin Akinci,
+Fabian Möller,
+Farid Zakaria,
+Federico Pellegrin,
+Finn Behrens,
+Florian Franzen,
+Félix Baylac-Jacqué,
+Gabriel Gonzalez,
+Geoff Reedy,
+Georges Dubus,
+Graham Christensen,
+Greg Hale,
+Greg Price,
+Gregor Kleen,
+Gregory Hale,
+Griffin Smith,
+Guillaume Bouchard,
+Harald van Dijk,
+illustris,
+Ivan Zvonimir Horvat,
+Jade,
+Jake Waksbaum,
+jakobrs,
+James Ottaway,
+Jan Tojnar,
+Janne Heß,
+Jaroslavas Pocepko,
+Jarrett Keifer,
+Jeremy Schlatter,
+Joachim Breitner,
+Joe Hermaszewski,
+Joe Pea,
+John Ericson,
+Jonathan Ringer,
+Josef Kemetmüller,
+Joseph Lucas,
+Jude Taylor,
+Julian Stecklina,
+Julien Tanguy,
+Jörg Thalheim,
+Kai Wohlfahrt,
+keke,
+Keshav Kini,
+Kevin Quick,
+Kevin Stock,
+Kjetil Orbekk,
+Krzysztof Gogolewski,
+kvtb,
+Lars Mühmel,
+Leonhard Markert,
+Lily Ballard,
+Linus Heckemann,
+Lorenzo Manacorda,
+Lucas Desgouilles,
+Lucas Franceschino,
+Lucas Hoffmann,
+Luke Granger-Brown,
+Madeline Haraj,
+Marwan Aljubeh,
+Mat Marini,
+Mateusz Piotrowski,
+Matthew Bauer,
+Matthew Kenigsberg,
+Mauricio Scheffer,
+Maximilian Bosch,
+Michael Adler,
+Michael Bishop,
+Michael Fellinger,
+Michael Forney,
+Michael Reilly,
+mlatus,
+Mykola Orliuk,
+Nathan van Doorn,
+Naïm Favier,
+ng0,
+Nick Van den Broeck,
+Nicolas Stig124 Formichella,
+Niels Egberts,
+Niklas Hambüchen,
+Nikola Knezevic,
+oxalica,
+p01arst0rm,
+Pamplemousse,
+Patrick Hilhorst,
+Paul Opiyo,
+Pavol Rusnak,
+Peter Kolloch,
+Philipp Bartsch,
+Philipp Middendorf,
+Piotr Szubiakowski,
+Profpatsch,
+Puck Meerburg,
+Ricardo M. Correia,
+Rickard Nilsson,
+Robert Hensing,
+Robin Gloster,
+Rodrigo,
+Rok Garbas,
+Ronnie Ebrin,
+Rovanion Luckey,
+Ryan Burns,
+Ryan Mulligan,
+Ryne Everett,
+Sam Doshi,
+Sam Lidder,
+Samir Talwar,
+Samuel Dionne-Riel,
+Sebastian Ullrich,
+Sergei Trofimovich,
+Sevan Janiyan,
+Shao Cheng,
+Shea Levy,
+Silvan Mosberger,
+Stefan Frijters,
+Stefan Jaax,
+sternenseemann,
+Steven Shaw,
+Stéphan Kochen,
+SuperSandro2000,
+Suraj Barkale,
+Taeer Bar-Yam,
+Thomas Churchman,
+Théophane Hufschmitt,
+Timothy DeHerrera,
+Timothy Klim,
+Tobias Möst,
+Tobias Pflug,
+Tom Bereknyei,
+Travis A. Everett,
+Ujjwal Jain,
+Vladimír Čunát,
+Wil Taylor,
+Will Dietz,
+Yaroslav Bolyukin,
+Yestin L. Harrison,
+YI,
+Yorick van Pelt,
+Yuriy Taraday and
+zimbatm.
diff --git a/doc/manual/src/release-notes/rl-next.md b/doc/manual/src/release-notes/rl-next.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..26c7d2cce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/manual/src/release-notes/rl-next.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# Release 2.5 (2021-XX-XX)
+
+* Binary cache stores now have a setting `compression-level`.
+
+* `nix develop` now has a flag `--unpack` to run `unpackPhase`.
+
+* Lists can now be compared lexicographically using the `<` operator.