Agenda
- updates and blockers
- funding opportunities
Updates
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@j-k:
- have been getting familiar with how Nix builds documentation
- ran through Nixpkgs manual with a beginner to explain
stdenv
- a lot of usable tutorial-style material, but no good reference
- would be happy to do fix some low-hanging fruit, such as attribute listings
- possibly move
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@fricklerhandwerk: requested @yuki_is_bored to be added the NixOS GitHub org, to join the Github team
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@zmitchell: LJWG could use some input on a tutorial draft for
stdenv.mkDerivation phases
- currently myself being a blocker for the contributor workflow
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@fricklerhandwerk:
- Alexandra will start 5h/w on the docs project
- Jill continuing with summaries on the docs survey
- I will have some time to work on onboarding documentation in the next months
- Will be away calendar week 30-33
Funding opportunities
- Challenges | Sovereign Tech Fund
- what could we do with 65-300k EUR?
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@zmitchell: hire someone full time to overhaul our documentation infrastructure
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@yuki: taking care of Nixpkgs and NixOS manuals
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@proofconstruction @fricklerhandwerk: agreed
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@fricklerhandwerk: concerned that it takes a huge amount of time to get into context
- could hire multiple people to work on multiple topics in parallel, would review each other’s work
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@proofconstruction: would still require an expert for guidance
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@zmitchell: population of people knowing Nix enough, and having capacity or interest in working part time even if well paid, is probably very small
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@fricklerhandwerk: could leverage some expertise built up through Summer of Nix
- should hire for full time work, budget would allow for it
- what would we let paid contributors work on? high-value targets?
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@proofconstructions: depends on their skill level
- may require a lot of additional coordination
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@fricklerhandwerk: Summer of Nix is coming up, mob programming thing is coming up, works really well especially for knowledge-sharing. Could be combined with the documentation effort?
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@zmitchell: Looking at the Nixpkgs manual; will the recent changes to
nixos-render-doc make it possible to split the nixpkgs manual into more than one page?
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@fricklerhandwerk: certainly, but this is a minor issue requiring relatively small changes in comparison to content quality
- possible topics:
-
@yuki_is_bored: language-specific sections need much more attention
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@fricklerhandwerk: cross-compilation, Nixpkgs’ super power
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@proofconstruction: platform-specific
stdenv variations such as for Darwin
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@nobbz: docs talk about GNU C compiler, though in reality it is system-dependant which compiler is provided
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@nobbz: Manual also doesn’t really cover that we have a “default”
stdenv that would be system dependant, while there are also “specific” stdenvs you can choose from if you need a newer/older GCC or Clang specifically.
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@yukiisbored:
nixpkgs.lib
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@fricklerhandwerk: contribution guides, currently mostly a pile-up of rules
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@zmitchell: agreed, almost useless; no instructions on testing and quality assurance
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@zmitchell: Would be a lot easier to work on some of this stuff with funding for it, though it feels weird to say “pay me money!”
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@proofconstruction: Certainly easier to imagine dedicating more time to this project, moving other projects to accommodate, etc. if there’s non-token money behind the effort. Only concern is effectively using the funds/being as productive as possible with the time, to maximize the ROI for the project.
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@fricklerhandwerk will prepare a draft to discuss next Thursday
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