2023-11-28 Nixpkgs Architecture Team Meeting #46

Infinisil · November 28, 2023, 9:15pm

Past meeting notes
Matrix announcement
Lead by: @infinisil
Meeting notes by: @infinisil
Attendees: @roberth @phaer @DavHau @tomberek @ashkitten @j-k (I think)

Notes

@phaer leaves the team
Nixpkgs updates
- nixos/stub-ld: init module by tejing1 · Pull Request #269551 · NixOS/nixpkgs · GitHub
  - Better error message when trying to run unpatched binaries
  - General agreement to have it
  - Touches lib.systems
    - roberth: Maybe structure it as components, each with their own maintainers, doc chapters, etc
      - core (attrsets, lists, strings, etc.)
      - module system (options, modules, types)
      - systems (systems)
    - Issue opened: Split `lib` files and documentation by components: core, `systems`, module system · Issue #270666 · NixOS/nixpkgs · GitHub
    - Maybe shouldn’t be in lib, but rather stdenv
      - Potential future work to move it to a better place and document it
- Ensure all jobset attributes evaluate, and check that in CT · Pull Request #269356 · NixOS/nixpkgs · GitHub
  - Potential to fix the ofborg eval slowness (with follow-up PR)
- https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/pull/166
- [RFC 0146] Meta.Categories, not Filesystem Directory Trees by AndersonTorres · Pull Request #146 · NixOS/rfcs · GitHub
- Automatically updated nixos channel pins by infinisil · Pull Request #252057 · NixOS/nixpkgs · GitHub should be discussed a bit more
- lib.fileset library, see Function for transforming store path contents · Issue #264541 · NixOS/nixpkgs · GitHub for a potential function to work on arbitrary store paths
Update on RFC 140
- @infinisil will continue with RFC 140 migration plan · Issue #258650 · NixOS/nixpkgs · GitHub
- Can ping @DavHau
Package set unification? Package set standardization · Issue #21 · nixpkgs-architecture/issues · GitHub
- @infinisil doesn’t have the time, somebody else has to pick it up
- @tomberek: Considering doing that, worth doing?
  - @infinisil: 100% agree worth doing, exactly the thing for the NAT!
- @DavHau: Do unification of package overriding first?
  - @infinisil: Intermediate unified package sets will help with future improvements to overriding
  - @tomberek: I want it to be teachable to beginners, currently intractable
@ashkitten: Various ways to update packages, would be good to have a unified way that works, maybe even builtin
- @infinisil: Relates to flake lockfile and dream2nix
- @roberth: Nix team perspective: team has no bandwidth or scope do anything specific to Nixpkgs or write to files. Could use nix run or provide some command.
- maintainers/scripts/update.nix is kind of terrible, would be great to change it to a normal script
  - @roberth: A script with a better UX would be great and not controversial
- passthru.updateScript standardisation work would be great
- @r-ryantm uses GitHub - Mic92/nix-update: Swiss-knife for updating nix packages., relates to Announcing nixpkgs-merge-bot
  - Great RFC topic for somebody
- @ashkitten interested in working on update script standardisation: passthru.updateScript standardization · Issue #24 · nixpkgs-architecture/issues · GitHub
@tomberek: possible to expose the full scope of callPackge through a lazy value (may be related to the package set uni.). Garbage collection is likely impacted.
```
package.passthru.context 
package.overrideAttrs
package.override
-
callPackageWith package.context ./default.nix {}

callPackage ./hello.nix {
  python = python3;
}
```
- @DavHau: Maybe better to fix the underlying reason why it’s hard to reproduce packages
- @infinisil: Please describe it in an issue