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| -rw-r--r-- | doc/manual/release-notes.xml | 34 |
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diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes.xml index 8d0840d06e5f..c1dc6166d817 100644 --- a/doc/manual/release-notes.xml +++ b/doc/manual/release-notes.xml @@ -15,6 +15,40 @@ <itemizedlist> <listitem> + <para>Nix has a new binary substituter mechanism: the + <emphasis>binary cache</emphasis>. A binary cache contains + pre-built binaries of Nix packages. Whenever Nix wants to build a + missing Nix store path, it will check a set of binary caches to + see if any of them has a pre-built binary of that path. The + configuration setting <option>binary-caches</option> contains a + list of URLs of binary caches. For instance, doing +<screen> +$ nix-env -i thunderbird --option binary-caches http://nixos.org/binary-cache +</screen> + will install Thunderbird and its dependencies, using the available + pre-built binaries in <uri>http://nixos.org/binary-cache</uri>. + The main advantage over the old “manifest”-based method of getting + pre-built binaries is that you don’t have to worry about your + manifest being in sync with the Nix expressions you’re installing + from; i.e., you don’t need to run <command>nix-pull</command> to + update your manifest. It’s also more scalable because you don’t + need to redownload a giant manifest file every time. + </para> + + <para>A Nix channel can provide a binary cache URL that will be + used automatically if you subscribe to that channel. If you use + the Nixpkgs or NixOS channels + (<uri>http://nixos.org/channels</uri>) you automatically get the + cache <uri>http://nixos.org/binary-cache</uri>.</para> + + <para>Binary caches are created using <command>nix-push</command>. + For details on the operation and format of binary caches, see the + <command>nix-push</command> manpage. More details are provided in + <link xlink:href="http://lists.science.uu.nl/pipermail/nix-dev/2012-September/009826.html">this + nix-dev posting</link>.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> <para>Dashes are now valid as part of identifiers and attribute names.</para> </listitem> |