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This change follows the definition from aptitude, but using precise notions from Nix: > package managers deal with packages: collections of files that are > bundled together and can be installed and removed as a group. > [...] > If a package A depends upon another package B, then B is required > for A to operate properly. > [...] > The job of a package manager is to present an interface which assists > the user in managing the collection of packages installed on his or her system. > > -- <https://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/aptitude/pr01s02.en.html> An interesting addition: > Packages are abstractions defining the granularity at which users can act > (add, remove, upgrade, etc.) on available software. > A distribution is a collection of packages maintained (hopefully) coherently. > > -- Package Upgrades in FOSS Distributions: Details and Challenges > (Roberto Di Cosmo, Stefano Zacchiroli; 2009) <https://arxiv.org/pdf/0902.1610> Notably these quotes and this change don't say anything about installation, or what it means for software to be available. In practice, this is handled downstream, e.g. in NixOS or Home Manager. Nix historically provides rudimentary facilities for package management such as `nix-env`, but I claim they are widely agreed upon being discouraged, with plenty of arguments provided in <https://stop-using-nix-env.privatevoid.net>. Similarly, the specific structure of packages is determined downstream, since Nix is policy-free: > Nix is policy-free; it provides mechanisms to implement various deployment policies, but does not enforce a specific one. > > -- The Purely Functional Software Deployment Model (Eelco Dolstra; 2006) <https://edolstra.github.io/pubs/phd-thesis.pdf> Specifically, Nix mechanisms do not define what a package is supposed to be: > It's worth noting that the Nix language is intended as a DSL for package and configuration management, but it has no notions of "packages" or "configurations". > > -- <https://gist.github.com/edolstra/29ce9d8ea399b703a7023073b0dbc00d> This is why we say, Nix *allows* denoting packages in a certain way, but doesn't enforce any particular way. |
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Nix
Nix is a powerful package manager for Linux and other Unix systems that makes package management reliable and reproducible. Please refer to the Nix manual for more details.
Installation and first steps
Visit nix.dev for installation instructions and beginner tutorials.
Full reference documentation can be found in the Nix manual.
Building and developing
Follow instructions in the Nix reference manual to set up a development environment and build Nix from source.
Contributing
Check the contributing guide if you want to get involved with developing Nix.
Additional resources
Nix was created by Eelco Dolstra and developed as the subject of his PhD thesis The Purely Functional Software Deployment Model, published 2006. Today, a world-wide developer community contributes to Nix and the ecosystem that has grown around it.
- The Nix, Nixpkgs, NixOS Community on nixos.org
- Official documentation on nix.dev
- Nixpkgs is the largest, most up-to-date free software repository in the world
- NixOS is a Linux distribution that can be configured fully declaratively
- Discourse
- Matrix
License
Nix is released under the LGPL v2.1.