[Nix-dev] Re: [Nix-commits] SVN commit: trace - 10766 - ludo - in nixpkgs/trunk/pkgs: applications/version-management/git top-level

[Ludovic Courtès]

Hi,

"Nicolas Pierron"
<nicolas.b.pierron at gmail.com> writes:

> I don't think that all user want to have emacs each time they only
> want to install git.

Note: it's a build input, not a "propagated build input", so you only
need Emacs when compiling Git.  Installing the binary will *not* pull
Emacs.

> I have a few similar patches (on my laptop) about git.
> For example I have add an option that add Tk as a dependency without
> recompiling git because git only need it as a run-time dependency.
> I haven't patched it yet because I don't know if there is a good way
> to create that kind of dependencies.
>
> The idea is the following:

I'd rather add a boolean that can be set by users in `all-packages.nix'
(e.g., see `bittorrent'), and not install the Tcl/Tk script when Tk is
not available.

Now, it's true that changing options in `all-packages.nix' is not very
convenient.  The only way to get around it is to have, say, `gitWithGui'
and `rawGit', which both set the `gui' boolean option appropriately.

It'd be nice to have a way to such attributes from `nix-env' so you
don't have to actually edit `all-packages' or resort to the above hack.

Thanks,
Ludovic.