Support XDG-conformant paths for internal Nix files by balsoft · Pull Request #146515 · NixOS/nixpkgs

balsoft · 2021-11-18T17:51:05Z

This searches in $XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile everywhere where
previously we only looked in ~/.nix-profile, ditto for
.nix-channels and .nix-defexpr. This shouldn't break any
compatibility for now. It is highly recommended to use nixpkgs with
these changes if you want to use Nix with the XDG basedir PR, but not
doing so shouldn't result in any dramatic breakage -- in fact, NixOS
is perfectly usable without any user profile.

Things done

Ref: NixOS/nix#5588 This searches in $XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile everywhere where previously we only looked in ~/.nix-profile. This shouldn't break any compatibility for now. It is highly recommended to use nixpkgs with these changes if you want to use Nix with the XDG basedir PR, but not doing so shouldn't result in any dramatic breakage -- in fact, NixOS is perfectly usable without any user profile.

Ref: NixOS/nix#5588

doc/using/configuration.chapter.md

Artturin · 2021-11-19T03:13:21Z

nixos/modules/services/misc/nix-daemon.nix

logic like this could be useful for setting the nix-profile so users could just use that env var in their scripts instead of having to accommodate 3 possible separate locations

NIX_USER_PROFILE_PATH perhaps?

on second thought that'll be nixos only but we'll want that on non nixos distros too so can nix somehow do it?

Nix has a setup script that has to be sourced in order to bring nix into the PATH, with the proper ssl certs for packages to use. So that would be a good place to define the variable.

That would require an update to be simultaneous in both Nix and nixpkgs, which is a lot more difficult to orchestrate correctly.

cab404

LGTM #zhfmsk

Ref: NixOS/nix#5588

SuperSandro2000 · 2021-11-22T13:29:58Z

This needs to go to staging.

#140168 (comment)

I don't think we should squeeze in such a change last minute. There are probably more packages which need some adjustment and having that change a few months in unstable will probably reveal most of them. Especially DEs which heavily rely on XDG* shoulnd't break.

pasqui23 · 2021-11-22T22:08:23Z

doc/stdenv/stdenv.chapter.md


 ```
-set debug-file-directory ~/.nix-profile/lib/debug
+set debug-file-directory ~/.local/share/nix/profile/lib/debug


Suggested change

set debug-file-directory ~/.local/share/nix/profile/lib/debug

set debug-file-directory ~/.local/state/nix/profile/lib/debug

pasqui23 · 2021-11-22T22:08:43Z

doc/using/configuration.chapter.md

 ```

-To install it into our environment, you can just run `nix-env -iA nixpkgs.myPackages`. If you want to load the packages to be built from a working copy of `nixpkgs` you just run `nix-env -f. -iA myPackages`. To explore what's been installed, just look through `~/.nix-profile/`. You can see that a lot of stuff has been installed. Some of this stuff is useful some of it isn't. Let's tell Nixpkgs to only link the stuff that we want:
+To install it into our environment, you can just run `nix-env -iA nixpkgs.myPackages`. If you want to load the packages to be built from a working copy of `nixpkgs` you just run `nix-env -f. -iA myPackages`. To explore what's been installed, just look through your user profile (`$XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile`, or a legacy location `~/.nix-profile/`). You can see that a lot of stuff has been installed. Some of this stuff is useful some of it isn't. Let's tell Nixpkgs to only link the stuff that we want:


Suggested change

To install it into our environment, you can just run `nix-env -iA nixpkgs.myPackages`. If you want to load the packages to be built from a working copy of `nixpkgs` you just run `nix-env -f. -iA myPackages`. To explore what's been installed, just look through your user profile (`$XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile`, or a legacy location `~/.nix-profile/`). You can see that a lot of stuff has been installed. Some of this stuff is useful some of it isn't. Let's tell Nixpkgs to only link the stuff that we want:

To install it into our environment, you can just run `nix-env -iA nixpkgs.myPackages`. If you want to load the packages to be built from a working copy of `nixpkgs` you just run `nix-env -f. -iA myPackages`. To explore what's been installed, just look through your user profile (`$XDG_STATE_HOME/nix/profile`, or a legacy location `~/.nix-profile/`). You can see that a lot of stuff has been installed. Some of this stuff is useful some of it isn't. Let's tell Nixpkgs to only link the stuff that we want:

pasqui23 · 2021-11-22T22:09:07Z

doc/using/configuration.chapter.md

 ### Getting documentation {#sec-getting-documentation}

-After building that new environment, look through `~/.nix-profile` to make sure everything is there that we wanted. Discerning readers will note that some files are missing. Look inside `~/.nix-profile/share/man/man1/` to verify this. There are no man pages for any of the Nix tools! This is because some packages like Nix have multiple outputs for things like documentation (see section 4). Let's make Nix install those as well.
+After building that new environment, look through `$XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile` (or, as noted above, `~/.nix-profile`) to make sure everything is there that we wanted. Discerning readers will note that some files are missing. Look inside `$XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile/share/man/man1/` to verify this. There are no man pages for any of the Nix tools! This is because some packages like Nix have multiple outputs for things like documentation (see section 4). Let's make Nix install those as well.


Suggested change

After building that new environment, look through `$XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile` (or, as noted above, `~/.nix-profile`) to make sure everything is there that we wanted. Discerning readers will note that some files are missing. Look inside `$XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile/share/man/man1/` to verify this. There are no man pages for any of the Nix tools! This is because some packages like Nix have multiple outputs for things like documentation (see section 4). Let's make Nix install those as well.

After building that new environment, look through `$XDG_STATE_HOME/nix/profile` (or, as noted above, `~/.nix-profile`) to make sure everything is there that we wanted. Discerning readers will note that some files are missing. Look inside `$XDG_STATE_HOME/nix/profile/share/man/man1/` to verify this. There are no man pages for any of the Nix tools! This is because some packages like Nix have multiple outputs for things like documentation (see section 4). Let's make Nix install those as well.

pasqui23 · 2021-11-22T22:09:36Z

doc/using/configuration.chapter.md

+      XDG_DATA_HOME=${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}
+      export PATH=$XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile/bin:/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
+      export MANPATH=$XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile/share/man:/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/share/man:/usr/share/man


Suggested change

XDG_DATA_HOME=${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}

export PATH=$XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile/bin:/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin

export MANPATH=$XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile/share/man:/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/share/man:/usr/share/man

XDG_DATA_HOME=${XDG_STATE_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}

export PATH=$XDG_STATE_HOME/nix/profile/bin:/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin

export MANPATH=$XDG_STATE_HOME/nix/profile/share/man:/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/share/man:/usr/share/man

Shouldn't it be XDG_STATE_HOME=${XDG_STATE_HOME:-$HOME/.local/state}?

pasqui23 · 2021-11-22T22:10:22Z

doc/using/configuration.chapter.md

+XDG_DATA_HOME=${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}
+if [ -d $XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile/etc/profile.d ]; then
+  for i in $XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile/etc/profile.d/*.sh; do


Suggested change

XDG_DATA_HOME=${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}

if [ -d $XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile/etc/profile.d ]; then

for i in $XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile/etc/profile.d/*.sh; do

XDG_STATE_HOME=${XDG_STATE_HOME:-$HOME/.local/state}

if [ -d $XDG_STATE_HOME/nix/profile/etc/profile.d ]; then

for i in $XDG_STATE_HOME/nix/profile/etc/profile.d/*.sh; do

pasqui23 · 2021-11-22T22:20:11Z

pkgs/shells/zsh/zsh-git-prompt/default.nix

 # Or if installed locally:
 #
-#   source ~/.nix-profile/share/zsh-git-prompt/zshrc.sh
+#   source $XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile/share/zsh-git-prompt/zshrc.sh


Suggested change

# source $XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile/share/zsh-git-prompt/zshrc.sh

# source $XDG_STATE_HOME/nix/profile/share/zsh-git-prompt/zshrc.sh

This won't work when XDG_STATE_HOME is not set which it isn't by default IIRC

pasqui23 · 2021-11-22T22:20:30Z

pkgs/tools/system/incron/default_path.patch

-+    DEFAULT_PATH += "/.nix-profile/bin:/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin:/run/current-system/sw/bin:/etc/profiles/per-user/";
+    DEFAULT_PATH += "/.nix-profile/bin:/nix/var/nix/profiles/default/bin:/run/current-system/sw/bin:/etc/profiles/per-user/:";
+    DEFAULT_PATH += pwd->pw_dir;
+    DEFAULT_PATH += "/.local/share/nix/bin:";


Suggested change

+ DEFAULT_PATH += "/.local/share/nix/bin:";

+ DEFAULT_PATH += "/.local/state/nix/bin:";

pasqui23 · 2021-11-22T22:21:01Z

pkgs/tools/typesetting/tex/tetex/environment.patch

+ TEXMFNIXHOME = $XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile/share/texmf-nix
+ TEXMFNIXFALLBACK = ~/.local/share/nix/profile/share/texmf-nix


Suggested change

+ TEXMFNIXHOME = $XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile/share/texmf-nix

+ TEXMFNIXFALLBACK = ~/.local/share/nix/profile/share/texmf-nix

+ TEXMFNIXHOME = $XDG_STATE_HOME/nix/profile/share/texmf-nix

+ TEXMFNIXFALLBACK = ~/.local/state/nix/profile/share/texmf-nix

pasqui23 · 2021-11-22T22:21:29Z

pkgs/tools/wayland/swayr/icon-paths.patch

+
+ impl Default for Format {
+     fn default() -> Self {
+        let data_home = std::env::var("XDG_DATA_HOME").unwrap_or("~/.local/share".to_string());


Suggested change

+ let data_home = std::env::var("XDG_DATA_HOME").unwrap_or("~/.local/share".to_string());

+ let data_home = std::env::var("XDG_STATE_HOME").unwrap_or("~/.local/state".to_string());

pasqui23 · 2021-11-22T22:22:11Z

pkgs/top-level/emacs-packages.nix

  (add-to-list 'package-directory-list "/run/current-system/sw/share/emacs/site-lisp/elpa")

  ;; optional. use this if you install emacs packages to user profiles (with nix-env)
+  (add-to-list 'package-directory-list "~/.local/share/profile/nix/share/emacs/site-lisp/elpa")


Suggested change

(add-to-list 'package-directory-list "~/.local/share/profile/nix/share/emacs/site-lisp/elpa")

(add-to-list 'package-directory-list "~/.local/state/profile/nix/share/emacs/site-lisp/elpa")

balsoft · 2021-11-23T19:21:18Z

@pasqui23 I disagree with moving those files to $XDG_STATE_HOME. As per the standard (emphasis mine):

The $XDG_STATE_HOME contains state data that should persist between (application) restarts, but that is not important or portable enough to the user that it should be stored in $XDG_DATA_HOME

The profile, defexpr and channels list are quite important for the user, unlike the examples given (the repl history, for example). Removing any one of them will break the experience in a non-subtle way: things will just stop working.

I would argue that this needs to be a separate PR in nix, which moves repl-history to the XDG_STATE_HOME.

nixos-discourse · 2021-11-25T15:03:40Z

This pull request has been mentioned on NixOS Discourse. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.nixos.org/t/tweag-nix-dev-update-22/16251/1

lovesegfault · 2022-02-21T00:35:55Z

@balsoft Can you rebase? Maybe we can get this landed :)

balsoft · 2022-04-11T09:48:20Z

@lovesegfault I'd like to first merge the correspondent Nix PR

Artturin · 2023-03-01T20:49:13Z

nix pr was merged 3 weeks ago

SuperSandro2000 · 2023-03-20T00:49:28Z

This PR blocks bumping nixVersions.stable to 2.14.

nyabinary · 2024-03-15T13:34:09Z

So is this PR stale?

balsoft added 2 commits November 18, 2021 20:41

Support XDG-conformant locations for the nix channels list

4229a06

Ref: NixOS/nix#5588

balsoft requested review from adisbladis, cdepillabout, expipiplus1, jonringer, maralorn and sternenseemann as code owners November 18, 2021 17:51

SuperSandro2000 reviewed Nov 18, 2021

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Artturin mentioned this pull request Nov 19, 2021

Follow XDG Base Directory standard NixOS/nix#5588

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Support XDG-conformant locations for the nix defexpr

2ff1ea6

Ref: NixOS/nix#5588

balsoft force-pushed the balsoft/nix-xdg branch from 6e36b00 to 2ff1ea6 Compare November 22, 2021 08:43

balsoft mentioned this pull request Nov 22, 2021

21.11 Feature Freeze #140168

Closed

balsoft changed the base branch from master to staging November 22, 2021 13:46

pasqui23 suggested changes Nov 22, 2021

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nixVersions.nix_2_14: init at 2.14.1 #218889

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nix: 2.13.3 -> 2.15.1 #233439

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	set debug-file-directory ~/.local/share/nix/profile/lib/debug
	set debug-file-directory ~/.local/state/nix/profile/lib/debug

	# source $XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile/share/zsh-git-prompt/zshrc.sh
	# source $XDG_STATE_HOME/nix/profile/share/zsh-git-prompt/zshrc.sh

	+ DEFAULT_PATH += "/.local/share/nix/bin:";
	+ DEFAULT_PATH += "/.local/state/nix/bin:";

		+ TEXMFNIXHOME = $XDG_DATA_HOME/nix/profile/share/texmf-nix
		+ TEXMFNIXFALLBACK = ~/.local/share/nix/profile/share/texmf-nix

	+ let data_home = std::env::var("XDG_DATA_HOME").unwrap_or("~/.local/share".to_string());
	+ let data_home = std::env::var("XDG_STATE_HOME").unwrap_or("~/.local/state".to_string());

	(add-to-list 'package-directory-list "~/.local/share/profile/nix/share/emacs/site-lisp/elpa")
	(add-to-list 'package-directory-list "~/.local/state/profile/nix/share/emacs/site-lisp/elpa")

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balsoft commented Nov 18, 2021

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