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diff --git a/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.7.xml b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.7.xml new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..7257bc869b25 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1.7.xml @@ -0,0 +1,263 @@ +<chapter xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" + xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" + xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude" + version="5.0" + xml:id="ssec-relnotes-1.7"> + +<title>Release 1.7 (April 11, 2014)</title> + +<para>In addition to the usual bug fixes, this release has the +following new features:</para> + +<itemizedlist> + + <listitem> + <para>Antiquotation is now allowed inside of quoted attribute + names (e.g. <literal>set."${foo}"</literal>). In the case where + the attribute name is just a single antiquotation, the quotes can + be dropped (e.g. the above example can be written + <literal>set.${foo}</literal>). If an attribute name inside of a + set declaration evaluates to <literal>null</literal> (e.g. + <literal>{ ${null} = false; }</literal>), then that attribute is + not added to the set.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>Experimental support for cryptographically signed binary + caches. See <link + xlink:href="https://github.com/NixOS/nix/commit/0fdf4da0e979f992db75cc17376e455ddc5a96d8">the + commit for details</link>.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>An experimental new substituter, + <command>download-via-ssh</command>, that fetches binaries from + remote machines via SSH. Specifying the flags <literal>--option + use-ssh-substituter true --option ssh-substituter-hosts + <replaceable>user@hostname</replaceable></literal> will cause Nix + to download binaries from the specified machine, if it has + them.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para><command>nix-store -r</command> and + <command>nix-build</command> have a new flag, + <option>--check</option>, that builds a previously built + derivation again, and prints an error message if the output is not + exactly the same. This helps to verify whether a derivation is + truly deterministic. For example: + +<screen> +$ nix-build '<nixpkgs>' -A patchelf +<replaceable>…</replaceable> +$ nix-build '<nixpkgs>' -A patchelf --check +<replaceable>…</replaceable> +error: derivation `/nix/store/1ipvxs…-patchelf-0.6' may not be deterministic: + hash mismatch in output `/nix/store/4pc1dm…-patchelf-0.6.drv' +</screen> + + </para> + + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>The <command>nix-instantiate</command> flags + <option>--eval-only</option> and <option>--parse-only</option> + have been renamed to <option>--eval</option> and + <option>--parse</option>, respectively.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para><command>nix-instantiate</command>, + <command>nix-build</command> and <command>nix-shell</command> now + have a flag <option>--expr</option> (or <option>-E</option>) that + allows you to specify the expression to be evaluated as a command + line argument. For instance, <literal>nix-instantiate --eval -E + '1 + 2'</literal> will print <literal>3</literal>.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para><command>nix-shell</command> improvements:</para> + + <itemizedlist> + + <listitem> + <para>It has a new flag, <option>--packages</option> (or + <option>-p</option>), that sets up a build environment + containing the specified packages from Nixpkgs. For example, + the command + +<screen> +$ nix-shell -p sqlite xorg.libX11 hello +</screen> + + will start a shell in which the given packages are + present.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>It now uses <filename>shell.nix</filename> as the + default expression, falling back to + <filename>default.nix</filename> if the former doesn’t + exist. This makes it convenient to have a + <filename>shell.nix</filename> in your project to set up a + nice development environment.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>It evaluates the derivation attribute + <varname>shellHook</varname>, if set. Since + <literal>stdenv</literal> does not normally execute this hook, + it allows you to do <command>nix-shell</command>-specific + setup.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>It preserves the user’s timezone setting.</para> + </listitem> + + </itemizedlist> + + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>In chroots, Nix now sets up a <filename>/dev</filename> + containing only a minimal set of devices (such as + <filename>/dev/null</filename>). Note that it only does this if + you <emphasis>don’t</emphasis> have <filename>/dev</filename> + listed in your <option>build-chroot-dirs</option> setting; + otherwise, it will bind-mount the <literal>/dev</literal> from + outside the chroot.</para> + + <para>Similarly, if you don’t have <filename>/dev/pts</filename> listed + in <option>build-chroot-dirs</option>, Nix will mount a private + <literal>devpts</literal> filesystem on the chroot’s + <filename>/dev/pts</filename>.</para> + + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>New built-in function: <function>builtins.toJSON</function>, + which returns a JSON representation of a value.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para><command>nix-env -q</command> has a new flag + <option>--json</option> to print a JSON representation of the + installed or available packages.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para><command>nix-env</command> now supports meta attributes with + more complex values, such as attribute sets.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>The <option>-A</option> flag now allows attribute names with + dots in them, e.g. + +<screen> +$ nix-instantiate --eval '<nixos>' -A 'config.systemd.units."nscd.service".text' +</screen> + + </para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>The <option>--max-freed</option> option to + <command>nix-store --gc</command> now accepts a unit + specifier. For example, <literal>nix-store --gc --max-freed + 1G</literal> will free up to 1 gigabyte of disk space.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para><command>nix-collect-garbage</command> has a new flag + <option>--delete-older-than</option> + <replaceable>N</replaceable><literal>d</literal>, which deletes + all user environment generations older than + <replaceable>N</replaceable> days. Likewise, <command>nix-env + --delete-generations</command> accepts a + <replaceable>N</replaceable><literal>d</literal> age limit.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>Nix now heuristically detects whether a build failure was + due to a disk-full condition. In that case, the build is not + flagged as “permanently failed”. This is mostly useful for Hydra, + which needs to distinguish between permanent and transient build + failures.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>There is a new symbol <literal>__curPos</literal> that + expands to an attribute set containing its file name and line and + column numbers, e.g. <literal>{ file = "foo.nix"; line = 10; + column = 5; }</literal>. There also is a new builtin function, + <varname>unsafeGetAttrPos</varname>, that returns the position of + an attribute. This is used by Nixpkgs to provide location + information in error messages, e.g. + +<screen> +$ nix-build '<nixpkgs>' -A libreoffice --argstr system x86_64-darwin +error: the package ‘libreoffice-4.0.5.2’ in ‘.../applications/office/libreoffice/default.nix:263’ + is not supported on ‘x86_64-darwin’ +</screen> + + </para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>The garbage collector is now more concurrent with other Nix + processes because it releases certain locks earlier.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>The binary tarball installer has been improved. You can now + install Nix by running: + +<screen> +$ bash <(curl https://nixos.org/nix/install) +</screen> + + </para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>More evaluation errors include position information. For + instance, selecting a missing attribute will print something like + +<screen> +error: attribute `nixUnstabl' missing, at /etc/nixos/configurations/misc/eelco/mandark.nix:216:15 +</screen> + + </para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>The command <command>nix-setuid-helper</command> is + gone.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>Nix no longer uses Automake, but instead has a + non-recursive, GNU Make-based build system.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>All installed libraries now have the prefix + <literal>libnix</literal>. In particular, this gets rid of + <literal>libutil</literal>, which could clash with libraries with + the same name from other packages.</para> + </listitem> + + <listitem> + <para>Nix now requires a compiler that supports C++11.</para> + </listitem> + +</itemizedlist> + +<para>This release has contributions from Danny Wilson, Domen Kožar, +Eelco Dolstra, Ian-Woo Kim, Ludovic Courtès, Maxim Ivanov, Petr +Rockai, Ricardo M. Correia and Shea Levy.</para> + +</chapter> \ No newline at end of file |