I’d like to propose two new stable channels, with the goal of providing a single stable channel that projects can pin nixpkgs to in order to function reliably for all users.
- nixpkgs-18.03: This channel would build and test packages for both Linux and Darwin. This channel would be suitable for acquiring packages for use on both OSes, but it would not necessarily pass the NixOS tests, and so would not be reliable to deploy NixOS from.
-
nixpkgs-18.03-all: This channel would be just like
nixpkgs-18.03
, except that it would also pass the NixOS tests. This channel would be suitable for all purposes.
The addition of these differs from the current situation by allowing a project to rely on a single checkout to support both Linux and Darwin users / developers. Currently there is no stable channel a project can follow and be sure that it pass both Linux and Darwin tests. It’s important that a channel like this be stable so that organizations can rely on it for bug fixes and security updates without having to worry about frequent major dependency updates.