[Nix-dev] some basic questions from a new NixOS user

[Linus Arver]

Hello Peter,

On Thu, Dec 01, 2011 at 08:55:26AM +0100, Peter Simons wrote:
> Hi Linus,
> 
>  > The "nix-env -qaP \*" command does work, but I am unable to make sense
>  > of the output. For example, there is this line:
>  >
>  >     nixpkgs_sys.haskellPackages_ghc704_no_profiling.xmonad      haskell-xmonad-ghc7.0.4-0.10
>  >
>  > I can see that the second column is the package name, but what is the
>  > first column? How do I use it so I can use the "nix-env -iA" syntax?
> 
> That attribute path is what "nix-env -iA" expects, i.e.:
> 
>   nix-env -iA nixpkgs_sys.haskellPackages_ghc704_no_profiling.xmonad
> 

Ah, how silly of me. I tried out the command above and indeed it works
fine.

> Note that "haskellPackages_ghc704_no_profiling" and "haskellPackages"
> are synonymous at the moment.

I see. So, for the record, you can do:

    $ nix-env -iA nixpkgs_sys.haskellPackages_ghc704_no_profiling.xmonad

or

    $ nix-env -iA nixpkgs_sys.haskellPackages.xmonad

to install xmonad as a regular user. Cool stuff!

>  > The nix-env manpage explicitly says "nix-env -qaA '*'" gives the
>  > attribute paths. Could this be a typo in the manpage?
> 
> Yes, it is. :-) I'll commit a fix.

Great. Thanks again, Peter!

-Linus