emacsPackages.ws-butler: avoid `fetchFromSavannah` by dschrempf · Pull Request #477666 · NixOS/nixpkgs

dschrempf · 2026-01-07T08:22:52Z

Avoid usage of fetchFromSavannah for ws-butler. (Simply remove the override; this works for me).

This may fix #436534, although I am not sure if it resolves the root cause of the issue.

@jian-lin @normalcea

Should we remove fetchFromSavannah altogether? It is not used anymore after this PR (but may be used downstream).

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jian-lin · 2026-01-07T17:32:04Z

pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix

-          ws-butler = super.ws-butler.overrideAttrs (old: {
-            # work around https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/436534
-            src = pkgs.fetchFromSavannah {
-              repo = "emacs/nongnu";
-              inherit (old.src) rev outputHash outputHashAlgo;
-            };
-          });


This won't work. We need to fix it or use another workaround.

I have the following error to build ws-butler.

It works for you probably because you already have the src FOD in the nix store. If that's true, try to add the --rebuild flag and you'll get the error.

nix build -f . emacs-pgtk.pkgs.ws-butler -L these 2 derivations will be built: /nix/store/7h1cl12ipzf2ri6my2115cgk0yi6q351-nongnu-9ee5a76.drv /nix/store/jm5z0pn80zcnbnyc7x6lhhi2xfx7kbwp-emacs-ws-butler-20250310.205.drv building '/nix/store/7h1cl12ipzf2ri6my2115cgk0yi6q351-nongnu-9ee5a76.drv'... nongnu> structuredAttrs is enabled nongnu> exporting https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/emacs/nongnu.git (rev 9ee5a7657a22e836618813c2e2b64a548d27d2ff) into /nix/store/4cmfwrxnib7bpil5maqm6yk5hr6f6iqg-nongnu-9ee5a76 nongnu> Initialized empty Git repository in /nix/store/4cmfwrxnib7bpil5maqm6yk5hr6f6iqg-nongnu-9ee5a76/.git/ nongnu> error: Server does not allow request for unadvertised object 9ee5a7657a22e836618813c2e2b64a548d27d2ff nongnu> ERROR: `git fetch' failed. nongnu> This might be due to the dumb transfer protocol not supporting shallow fetch or no-tag cloning. Trying with `--tags' and without `--depth=1'... nongnu> remote: Counting objects: 569800, done. nongnu> remote: Compressing objects: 100% (193314/193314), done. nongnu> remote: Total 569800 (delta 371837), reused 566055 (delta 368737) nongnu> Receiving objects: 100% (569800/569800), 413.47 MiB | 9.81 MiB/s, done. nongnu> Resolving deltas: 100% (371837/371837), done. nongnu> error: Could not read 2a59ce05bd0a86db1911f07adb942f10b8540614 nongnu> fatal: Failed to traverse parents of commit b1c16e50e93c662a12c49ac8f18b607656238361 nongnu> error: https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/emacs/nongnu.git did not send all necessary objects nongnu> Unable to checkout 9ee5a7657a22e836618813c2e2b64a548d27d2ff from https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/emacs/nongnu.git.

It turns out that removing this overrideAttrs and updating its url to the new one https://https.git.savannah.gnu.org/git/elpa/nongnu.git fixes it. So we should update the url in upstream melpa/melpaand the change will reaches Nixpkgs after the next elisp bump. Before that, we can optionally add the following override to update url locally in Nixpkgs. Could you do those two PRs?

ws-butler = super.ws-butler.overrideAttrs (old: { # TODO remove this when not needed src = old.src.override { url = "https://https.git.savannah.gnu.org/git/elpa/nongnu.git"; }; });

Are we talking about this https://elpa.nongnu.org/nongnu/ws-butler.html
Or this https://github.com/lewang/ws-butler
?

should be the nongnu one, see melpa/melpa#9366

That's funny because the build works fine for me ...

What is the final take on it? Should we remove the override and fix the URL upstream?

(I just saw your comment on why it works for me, but not for others, thanks).

What is the final take on it? Should we remove the override and fix the URL upstream?

Yes

ghost · 2026-01-07T21:12:26Z

Should we remove fetchFromSavannah altogether? It is not used anymore after this PR (but may be used downstream).

@jian-lin and I met halfway on this and kept fetchFromSavannah in-tree in case downstreams would like to use it, the motivation for removing it completely is if it's not usable anymore which may or may not be the case in the future. Currently it is still usable and is being utilized for MELPA generation.

jian-lin · 2026-01-07T21:20:41Z

Should we remove fetchFromSavannah altogether?

(I wanted to comment on this previously but forgot 😅)

Currently it is still usable

The situation has changed: savannah disabled their cgit snapshot service for many (all?) repos about a month ago. (related nix-community/emacs-overlay#524) So I would not say it is usable as is currently. As a result, now I think we should remove it.

dschrempf · 2026-01-08T07:47:41Z

I have removed fetchFromSavannah and updated the release notes. I guess this also merits an entry in the breaking changes Discourse thread. What are your opinions?

I still need to fix the ws-butler derivation as stated above.

ghost · 2026-01-08T07:49:25Z

@dschrempf

It wouldn't be good to remove fetchFromSavannah here, this is something handled in a separate PR for organization. The ws-butler fix should be the only thing handled here.

dschrempf · 2026-01-08T07:49:59Z

OK, I can split this up but running out of time. I am not angry if you want to take over.

jian-lin · 2026-01-08T07:54:50Z

pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix


  fetchFromBitbucket = callPackage ../build-support/fetchbitbucket { };

-  fetchFromSavannah = callPackage ../build-support/fetchsavannah { };


Should add an alias, see https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/pkgs/README.md#steps-to-remove-a-package-from-nixpkgs

jian-lin

I guess this also merits an entry in the breaking changes Discourse thread. What are your opinions?

I think adding an alias which throws should be enough.

It wouldn't be good to remove fetchFromSavannah here, this is something handled in a separate PR for organization.

I think removing fetchFromSavannah in this PR isn't a big deal, it is acceptable. Of course, doing it in another PR is better.

jian-lin · 2026-01-08T07:56:15Z

pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix

-          ws-butler = super.ws-butler.overrideAttrs (old: {
-            # work around https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/436534
-            src = pkgs.fetchFromSavannah {
-              repo = "emacs/nongnu";
-              inherit (old.src) rev outputHash outputHashAlgo;
-            };
-          });


What is the final take on it? Should we remove the override and fix the URL upstream?

Yes

ghost · 2026-01-08T08:06:21Z

Re: @jian-lin

I think removing fetchFromSavannah in this PR isn't a big deal, it is acceptable. Of course, doing it in another PR is better.

My concern is that we don't have all the facts about savannah organized here and I don't want to bog down this original build fix with discussions on the fetcher. It'd be better to handle the removal in a separate PR so we could consolidate discussion there and get this PR moving without it.

Also @dschrempf mentioned not having time to dedicate to this I presume, so I also want to respect that wish. Much easier to negotiate a build fix than a standard library removal.

jian-lin · 2026-01-08T08:08:19Z

Thanks for the clarification. I agree with you now.

dschrempf · 2026-01-08T08:10:03Z

@normalcea go ahead. If you wish, you can cherry pick the PR removing the fetcher, but no need to to so.

ghost · 2026-01-08T08:12:14Z

As an addendum, this PR should be backported, but there's also the question of whether we'd want to backport a future fetchFromSavannah removal since it's not going to be functional in stable and so the question is how to communicate that, something that's going to take up too much time here.

ghost · 2026-01-08T08:16:19Z

In that case @dschrempf can you force push removing fetchFromSavannah: remove? I have your patch saved.

Instead, update upstream URL.

dschrempf · 2026-01-08T15:58:28Z

I have replaced the override with the one fixing the URL. Building works for me, even with --rebuild. I will go ahead and update the URL also on MELPA.

See NixOS/nixpkgs#477666, and NixOS/nixpkgs#436534.

jian-lin

LGTM, thanks!

jian-lin · 2026-01-08T18:53:01Z

pkgs/applications/editors/emacs/elisp-packages/melpa-packages.nix

-            src = pkgs.fetchFromSavannah {
-              repo = "emacs/nongnu";
-              inherit (old.src) rev outputHash outputHashAlgo;
+            # TODO: Remove override when URL was updated in MELPA.


Ideally we should put the MELPA PR in this comment. But it will be removed in the next elisp bump so not a big deal.

nixpkgs-ci · 2026-01-09T04:41:25Z

Backport failed for release-25.11, because it was unable to cherry-pick the commit(s).

Please cherry-pick the changes locally and resolve any conflicts.

git fetch origin release-25.11
git worktree add -d .worktree/backport-477666-to-release-25.11 origin/release-25.11
cd .worktree/backport-477666-to-release-25.11
git switch --create backport-477666-to-release-25.11
git cherry-pick -x efb7f2ae14222a57f3615c44444e222134287655

AndersonTorres · 2026-01-09T19:40:21Z

This issue was fixed in MELPA:

melpa/melpa@37c02f3

Good time to test #473079 by the way :)

nixpkgs-ci bot requested review from AndersonTorres, adisbladis, jian-lin, panchoh and ttuegel January 7, 2026 08:27

nixpkgs-ci bot added 10.rebuild-darwin: 0 This PR does not cause any packages to rebuild on Darwin. 10.rebuild-linux: 0 This PR does not cause any packages to rebuild on Linux. 6.topic: emacs Text editor labels Jan 7, 2026

jian-lin requested changes Jan 7, 2026

View reviewed changes

nixpkgs-ci bot requested review from GetPsyched, jian-lin and philiptaron January 8, 2026 07:51

jian-lin requested changes Jan 8, 2026

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jian-lin reviewed Jan 8, 2026

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dschrempf force-pushed the ws-butler branch from 0d3c476 to 6dac4e8 Compare January 8, 2026 11:00

emacsPackages.ws-butler: avoid fetchFromSavannah

efb7f2a

Instead, update upstream URL.

dschrempf force-pushed the ws-butler branch from 6dac4e8 to efb7f2a Compare January 8, 2026 15:57

dschrempf added a commit to dschrempf/melpa that referenced this pull request Jan 8, 2026

Fix URL for ws-butler

40d9eff

See NixOS/nixpkgs#477666, and NixOS/nixpkgs#436534.

dschrempf mentioned this pull request Jan 8, 2026

Fix URL for ws-butler melpa/melpa#9775

Closed

jian-lin approved these changes Jan 8, 2026

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jian-lin reviewed Jan 8, 2026

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jian-lin added this pull request to the merge queue Jan 8, 2026

Merged via the queue into NixOS:master with commit eda8faa Jan 8, 2026
28 of 32 checks passed

ghost mentioned this pull request Jan 8, 2026

fetchFromSavannah: deprecate #435964

Merged

13 tasks

jian-lin added the backport release-25.11 Backport PR automatically label Jan 9, 2026

dschrempf deleted the ws-butler branch January 13, 2026 20:14


		fetchFromBitbucket = callPackage ../build-support/fetchbitbucket { };

		fetchFromSavannah = callPackage ../build-support/fetchsavannah { };

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