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+<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+         xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
+         xml:id="chap-quick-start">
+
+<title>Quick Start</title>
+
+
+<para>This chapter is for impatient people who don't like reading
+documentation.  For more in-depth information you are kindly referred
+to the following chapters.</para>
+
+<orderedlist>
+
+<listitem><para>Download a source tarball or RPM or Debian/Ubuntu
+package from <link xlink:href='http://nixos.org/'/>.  Build source
+distributions using the regular sequence:
+
+<screen>
+$ tar xvfj nix-<replaceable>version</replaceable>.tar.bz2
+$ cd nix-<replaceable>version</replaceable>
+$ ./configure
+$ make
+$ make install <lineannotation>(as root)</lineannotation></screen>
+
+This will install the Nix binaries in <filename>/usr/local</filename>
+and keep the Nix store and other state in <filename>/nix</filename>.
+You can change the former by specifying
+<option>--prefix=<replaceable>path</replaceable></option>.  The
+location of the store can be changed using
+<option>--with-store-dir=<replaceable>path</replaceable></option>.
+However, you shouldn't change the store location, if at all possible,
+since that will make it impossible to use pre-built binaries from the
+Nixpkgs channel and other channels.  The location of the state can be
+changed using
+<option>--localstatedir=<replaceable>path</replaceable>.</option></para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>You should add
+<filename><replaceable>prefix</replaceable>/etc/profile.d/nix.sh</filename>
+to your <filename>~/.profile</filename> (or some other login
+file).</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>Subscribe to the Nix Packages channel.
+
+<screen>
+$ nix-channel --add http://nixos.org/channels/nixpkgs-unstable</screen>
+
+</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>Download the latest Nix expressions available in the channel.
+<screen>
+$ nix-channel --update</screen>
+
+Note that this in itself doesn't download any packages, it just
+downloads the Nix expressions that build them and stores them
+somewhere (under <filename>~/.nix-defexpr</filename>, in case you're
+curious).  Also, it registers the fact that pre-built binaries are
+available remotely.</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>See what installable packages are currently available
+in the channel:
+
+<screen>
+$ nix-env -qa \*
+docbook-xml-4.2
+firefox-1.0pre-PR-0.10.1
+hello-2.1.1
+libxslt-1.1.0
+<replaceable>...</replaceable></screen>
+
+</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>Install some packages from the channel:
+
+<screen>
+$ nix-env -i hello firefox <replaceable>...</replaceable> </screen>
+
+This should download pre-built packages; it should not build them
+locally (if it does, something went wrong).</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>Test that they work:
+
+<screen>
+$ which hello
+/home/eelco/.nix-profile/bin/hello
+$ hello
+Hello, world!
+$ firefox
+<lineannotation>(read Slashdot or something)</lineannotation></screen>
+
+</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>Uninstall a package:
+
+<screen>
+$ nix-env -e hello</screen>
+
+</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>To keep up-to-date with the channel, do:
+
+<screen>
+$ nix-channel --update
+$ nix-env -u '*'</screen>
+
+The latter command will upgrade each installed package for which there
+is a “newer” version (as determined by comparing the version
+numbers).</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>You can also install specific packages directly from
+your web browser.  For instance, you can go to <link
+xlink:href="http://hydra.nixos.org/jobset/nixpkgs/trunk/channel/latest"
+/> and click on any link for the individual packages for your
+platform.  Associate <literal>application/nix-package</literal> with
+the program <command>nix-install-package</command>.  A window should
+appear asking you whether it’s okay to install the package.  Say
+<literal>Y</literal>.  The package and all its dependencies will be
+installed.</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>If you're unhappy with the result of a
+<command>nix-env</command> action (e.g., an upgraded package turned
+out not to work properly), you can go back:
+
+<screen>
+$ nix-env --rollback</screen>
+
+</para></listitem>
+
+<listitem><para>You should periodically run the Nix garbage collector
+to get rid of unused packages, since uninstalls or upgrades don't
+actually delete them:
+
+<screen>
+$ nix-collect-garbage -d</screen>
+
+<!--
+The first command deletes old “generations” of your profile (making
+rollbacks impossible, but also making the packages in those old
+generations available for garbage collection), while the second
+command actually deletes them.-->
+
+</para></listitem>
+
+</orderedlist>
+
+</chapter>