[Nix-dev] Bootstrap tools aren't statically linked.

[Marc Weber]

On Wed, May 27, 2009 at 05:34:34PM +1000, Jeevakan Suresh wrote:
> I'm using my own kernel headers with RHEL, through necessity my system
> is old enough that I can't just subscribe to a channel, the pre-built
> libc just isn't compatible with my RHEL kernel.
> 
> I have no problem bootstrapping with binaries - the problem is the
> binaries themselves are dynamically linked, causing a circular
> dependency when trying to bootstrap. Having statically linked binaries
> at the lowest level (like the previous bootstrap tools) would be ideal.
> 
> How are the current bootstrap tools built? I think if I can reproduce
> this I should be fine.

It would take me too much time to look into the details. Having a look
at nixpkgs/pkgs/stdenv/nativ or such is a starting point (?)
Maybe someone else can give you more accurat information here.

However there are alternatives:
Use another machine and prebuilt your set of bootstrapping tools there.
You can copy them over either by importing / exporting using nix-store
or by setting NIX_OTHER_STORES or such.

If you don't have another machine I could provide you with an SSH
account running nixos. Then all you have to do is copy over your
modifications of nixpkgs (= your kernel headers) and built some
binaries finally getting them into your store. Of course this would
require you to trust me and my server :-)

Good luck

Marc Weber