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Diffstat (limited to 'doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.8.xml')
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diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.8.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.8.xml deleted file mode 100644 index 1adb91a23..000000000 --- a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-0.8.xml +++ /dev/null @@ -1,246 +0,0 @@ -<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" - xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" - xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" - version="5.0" - xml:id="ch-relnotes-0.8"> - -<title>Release 0.8 (2005-04-11)</title> - -<para>NOTE: the hashing scheme in Nix 0.8 changed (as detailed below). -As a result, <command>nix-pull</command> manifests and channels built -for Nix 0.7 and below will not work anymore. However, the Nix -expression language has not changed, so you can still build from -source. Also, existing user environments continue to work. Nix 0.8 -will automatically upgrade the database schema of previous -installations when it is first run.</para> - -<para>If you get the error message - -<screen> -you have an old-style manifest `/nix/var/nix/manifests/[...]'; please -delete it</screen> - -you should delete previously downloaded manifests: - -<screen> -$ rm /nix/var/nix/manifests/*</screen> - -If <command>nix-channel</command> gives the error message - -<screen> -manifest `http://catamaran.labs.cs.uu.nl/dist/nix/channels/[channel]/MANIFEST' -is too old (i.e., for Nix <= 0.7)</screen> - -then you should unsubscribe from the offending channel -(<command>nix-channel --remove -<emphasis>URL</emphasis></command>; leave out -<literal>/MANIFEST</literal>), and subscribe to the same URL, with -<literal>channels</literal> replaced by <literal>channels-v3</literal> -(e.g., <link -xlink:href='http://catamaran.labs.cs.uu.nl/dist/nix/channels-v3/nixpkgs-unstable' -/>).</para> - -<para>Nix 0.8 has the following improvements: - -<itemizedlist> - - <listitem><para>The cryptographic hashes used in store paths are now - 160 bits long, but encoded in base-32 so that they are still only 32 - characters long (e.g., - <filename>/nix/store/csw87wag8bqlqk7ipllbwypb14xainap-atk-1.9.0</filename>). - (This is actually a 160 bit truncation of a SHA-256 - hash.)</para></listitem> - - <listitem><para>Big cleanups and simplifications of the basic store - semantics. The notion of “closure store expressions” is gone (and - so is the notion of “successors”); the file system references of a - store path are now just stored in the database.</para> - - <para>For instance, given any store path, you can query its closure: - - <screen> -$ nix-store -qR $(which firefox) -... lots of paths ...</screen> - - Also, Nix now remembers for each store path the derivation that - built it (the “deriver”): - - <screen> -$ nix-store -qR $(which firefox) -/nix/store/4b0jx7vq80l9aqcnkszxhymsf1ffa5jd-firefox-1.0.1.drv</screen> - - So to see the build-time dependencies, you can do - - <screen> -$ nix-store -qR $(nix-store -qd $(which firefox))</screen> - - or, in a nicer format: - - <screen> -$ nix-store -q --tree $(nix-store -qd $(which firefox))</screen> - - </para> - - <para>File system references are also stored in reverse. For - instance, you can query all paths that directly or indirectly use a - certain Glibc: - - <screen> -$ nix-store -q --referrers-closure \ - /nix/store/8lz9yc6zgmc0vlqmn2ipcpkjlmbi51vv-glibc-2.3.4</screen> - - </para> - - </listitem> - - <listitem><para>The concept of fixed-output derivations has been - formalised. Previously, functions such as - <function>fetchurl</function> in Nixpkgs used a hack (namely, - explicitly specifying a store path hash) to prevent changes to, say, - the URL of the file from propagating upwards through the dependency - graph, causing rebuilds of everything. This can now be done cleanly - by specifying the <varname>outputHash</varname> and - <varname>outputHashAlgo</varname> attributes. Nix itself checks - that the content of the output has the specified hash. (This is - important for maintaining certain invariants necessary for future - work on secure shared stores.)</para></listitem> - - <listitem><para>One-click installation :-) It is now possible to - install any top-level component in Nixpkgs directly, through the web - — see, e.g., <link - xlink:href='http://catamaran.labs.cs.uu.nl/dist/nixpkgs-0.8/' />. - All you have to do is associate - <filename>/nix/bin/nix-install-package</filename> with the MIME type - <literal>application/nix-package</literal> (or the extension - <filename>.nixpkg</filename>), and clicking on a package link will - cause it to be installed, with all appropriate dependencies. If you - just want to install some specific application, this is easier than - subscribing to a channel.</para></listitem> - - <listitem><para><command>nix-store -r - <emphasis>PATHS</emphasis></command> now builds all the - derivations PATHS in parallel. Previously it did them sequentially - (though exploiting possible parallelism between subderivations). - This is nice for build farms.</para></listitem> - - <listitem><para><command>nix-channel</command> has new operations - <option>--list</option> and - <option>--remove</option>.</para></listitem> - - <listitem><para>New ways of installing components into user - environments: - - <itemizedlist> - - <listitem><para>Copy from another user environment: - - <screen> -$ nix-env -i --from-profile .../other-profile firefox</screen> - - </para></listitem> - - <listitem><para>Install a store derivation directly (bypassing the - Nix expression language entirely): - - <screen> -$ nix-env -i /nix/store/z58v41v21xd3...-aterm-2.3.1.drv</screen> - - (This is used to implement <command>nix-install-package</command>, - which is therefore immune to evolution in the Nix expression - language.)</para></listitem> - - <listitem><para>Install an already built store path directly: - - <screen> -$ nix-env -i /nix/store/hsyj5pbn0d9i...-aterm-2.3.1</screen> - - </para></listitem> - - <listitem><para>Install the result of a Nix expression specified - as a command-line argument: - - <screen> -$ nix-env -f .../i686-linux.nix -i -E 'x: x.firefoxWrapper'</screen> - - The difference with the normal installation mode is that - <option>-E</option> does not use the <varname>name</varname> - attributes of derivations. Therefore, this can be used to - disambiguate multiple derivations with the same - name.</para></listitem> - - </itemizedlist></para></listitem> - - <listitem><para>A hash of the contents of a store path is now stored - in the database after a successful build. This allows you to check - whether store paths have been tampered with: <command>nix-store - --verify --check-contents</command>.</para></listitem> - - <listitem> - - <para>Implemented a concurrent garbage collector. It is now - always safe to run the garbage collector, even if other Nix - operations are happening simultaneously.</para> - - <para>However, there can still be GC races if you use - <command>nix-instantiate</command> and <command>nix-store - --realise</command> directly to build things. To prevent races, - use the <option>--add-root</option> flag of those commands.</para> - - </listitem> - - <listitem><para>The garbage collector now finally deletes paths in - the right order (i.e., topologically sorted under the “references” - relation), thus making it safe to interrupt the collector without - risking a store that violates the closure - invariant.</para></listitem> - - <listitem><para>Likewise, the substitute mechanism now downloads - files in the right order, thus preserving the closure invariant at - all times.</para></listitem> - - <listitem><para>The result of <command>nix-build</command> is now - registered as a root of the garbage collector. If the - <filename>./result</filename> link is deleted, the GC root - disappears automatically.</para></listitem> - - <listitem> - - <para>The behaviour of the garbage collector can be changed - globally by setting options in - <filename>/nix/etc/nix/nix.conf</filename>. - - <itemizedlist> - - <listitem><para><literal>gc-keep-derivations</literal> specifies - whether deriver links should be followed when searching for live - paths.</para></listitem> - - <listitem><para><literal>gc-keep-outputs</literal> specifies - whether outputs of derivations should be followed when searching - for live paths.</para></listitem> - - <listitem><para><literal>env-keep-derivations</literal> - specifies whether user environments should store the paths of - derivations when they are added (thus keeping the derivations - alive).</para></listitem> - - </itemizedlist> - - </para></listitem> - - <listitem><para>New <command>nix-env</command> query flags - <option>--drv-path</option> and - <option>--out-path</option>.</para></listitem> - - <listitem><para><command>fetchurl</command> allows SHA-1 and SHA-256 - in addition to MD5. Just specify the attribute - <varname>sha1</varname> or <varname>sha256</varname> instead of - <varname>md5</varname>.</para></listitem> - - <listitem><para>Manual updates.</para></listitem> - -</itemizedlist> - -</para> - -</section> |