Full Time Nix

https://nix.dev/manual/nix/2.28/release-notes/rl-2.27
https://nix.dev/manual/nix/2.28/release-notes/rl-2.28

https://snix.dev/
https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/blob/master/rfcs/0132-meson-builds-nix.md

https://fzakaria.com/2025/03/10/an-early-look-at-nix-dynamic-derivations
https://fzakaria.com/2025/03/11/nix-dynamic-derivations-a-practical-application
https://fzakaria.com/2025/03/12/nix-dynamic-derivations-a-lang2nix-practicum

https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nix-ninja-ninja-compatible-incremental-build-system-for-nix/62594?u=mightyiam

https://mesonbuild.com/
https://cmake.org/
https://ninja-build.org/
https://bazel.build/
https://buck2.build/

Chapters (generated)

00:00 Introduction
01:26 Nix File Formatting
02:38 Packaging Improvements and Granularity
05:27 Development Shell and Build Process
06:32 Error Message Improvements
09:21 Hydra Code Simplification
13:00 Bug Fixes and Maintenance
17:25 New Features in Flakes
21:32 Git LFS Support and Fetching Mechanisms
24:09 Change Root Store Enhancements
28:10 --out-link flag for Prefetch Command
30:13 Understanding File Descriptors and Process Management
31:59 BLAKE3 Hash Support and Its Implications
34:03 Release 2.27.0: Infrastructure Overhaul and Changes
35:47 C++ API Rework and Its Impact
38:25 Stability and Breaking Changes in Nix
42:34 Downstream Project Involvement and Ecosystem Participation
50:03 C API Development and Global Variables
52:32 Future Directions: Dynamic Derivations and Ecosystem Growth

Summary (generated)

In this conversation, Shahar "Dawn" Or interviews Farid Zakaria, a software engineer and PhD candidate, about his experiences with Nix, a powerful tool for reproducible software development. Farid shares his journey of learning Nix, its infectious nature, and its application in enterprise environments. He discusses the concept of innovation tokens, the challenges of teaching Nix, and how it has influenced his PhD research. The conversation also delves into dynamic linking, performance improvements, and the potential of Nix as a research platform. In this conversation, Farid Zakaria discusses the challenges and innovations in software performance, particularly focusing on application start-up times and the implications of dynamic versus static linking. He introduces the concept of stable linking, which aims to enhance software responsiveness and security while addressing historical decisions in software development. The discussion also touches on the potential for broader applications beyond C/C++, the importance of auditing in software, and the cultural shifts needed in the software development community to adopt these innovations.

Takeaways (generated)

Nix empowers reproducible software development.
The journey to learning Nix can be challenging but rewarding.
Nix is increasingly being adopted in enterprise environments.
Innovation tokens are crucial for evaluating new technologies.
Teaching Nix effectively requires understanding its practical applications.
Nix can significantly improve development environments.
Dynamic linking presents unique challenges that Nix can address.
Nix allows for performance optimizations in software applications.
Nix serves as a valuable research platform for PhD candidates.
The community around Nix is diverse and supportive.
Application start-up times can be significantly improved with optimization techniques.
Reducing the number of symbols in applications can lead to faster performance.
Stable linking offers a way to enhance software security and performance.
Dynamic linking has historical roots in resource constraints and code reuse.
The future of software may see faster responsiveness across all applications.
Auditing software for compatibility and security is crucial in modern development.
Compiler innovations can lead to substantial speed improvements in software builds.
C and C++ are not the only languages that can benefit from these linking techniques.
Cultural shifts in the software community are necessary for adopting new practices.
Practical implementation of stable linking could revolutionize how software is built and run.

Chapters (generated)

00:00 Introduction and Background
02:14 Exploring Nix and Its Community
05:00 The Transition from Hobbyist to Enterprise
06:47 Nix's Infectious Nature and Deployment Challenges
09:18 The Appeal of Nix for Development Environments
11:48 Innovation Tokens and Nix's Value Proposition
13:57 Bringing Nix to Looker and Google
15:39 Teaching Nix and Overcoming Adoption Hurdles
18:33 The Role of Nix in PhD Research
21:04 Dynamic Linking and Performance Optimization
23:41 Benchmarking and Results
26:19 Conclusion and Future Directions
48:14 The Impact of Speed on Software Development
55:34 The Future of Dynamic Linking and Its Implications
58:49 Stable Linking: A New Paradigm
01:05:04 Revisiting the Rationale Behind Dynamic Linking
01:11:15 Implementing Stable Linking in Nixpkgs

https://fzakaria.com/

https://www.confluent.io/
https://kafka.apache.org/
https://bazel.build/
https://www.ucsc.edu/
https://fulltimenix.com/episodes/domen-kozar
https://fulltimenix.com/episodes/jonathan-ringer
https://edolstra.github.io/pubs/phd-thesis.pdf
https://cloud.google.com/looker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGEY6ABQUBw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkgsFbwYdYA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZKFe4mCkr4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQstiX7H8MQ&t=183s

https://spack.io/
https://www.debian.org/
https://fedoraproject.org/
“apt-get mindset”
https://brew.sh/
https://nixos.org/manual/nixpkgs/unstable/#haskell
https://nixos.org/manual/nixpkgs/unstable/#python
https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man8/ld.so.8.html
https://github.com/nix-community/nix-ld
https://supercomputing.org/

https://github.com/fzakaria/shrinkwrap
https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/207061

https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.06716

How To Write Shared Libraries by Ulrich Drepper

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_space_layout_randomization
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Offset_Table

https://clang.llvm.org/
https://www.openoffice.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_File_System
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epyc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NVM_Express

https://musl.libc.org/
https://www.alpinelinux.org/
https://cve.mitre.org/
https://github.com/openssl/openssl#overview
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_Hierarchy_Standard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executable_and_Linkable_Format
https://nixos.org/manual/nixpkgs/unstable/#setup-hook-autopatchelfhook
https://guix.gnu.org/

https://cache.nixos.org

https://nixbuild.net/

https://nix.dev/manual/nix/2.26/store/types/
https://www.cachix.org/
https://nix.dev/manual/nix/2.26/development/experimental-features.html#xp-feature-dynamic-derivations
https://nix.dev/manual/nix/2.26/development/experimental-features.html#xp-feature-ca-derivations

https://lix.systems/
https://tvix.dev/

https://github.com/ngi-nix/summer-of-nix

https://nixos.org/community/teams/nix/
https://github.com/Ericson2314

https://www.haskell.org/
https://slurm.schedmd.com/

https://planetnix.com/

Generated chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Nix and Remote Building
02:38 Understanding Nix Daemon and Communication Protocols
05:01 Exploring Derivations and Their Role in Nix
07:26 Setting Up Remote Builders in Nix
09:48 Remote Building Process and Configuration
12:08 Remote Store vs Remote Builder Features
14:21 Managing Build Outputs and Dependencies
16:45 Optimizing Remote Builds and Scheduling
19:28 Conclusion and Future Improvements
24:16 Understanding Remote Store Features
24:43 Continuous Integration (CI) Workflows
26:37 Leveraging Remote Builders in CI
29:20 Exploring Nix Store Components
35:26 The Role of Substitutes in Nix
40:48 Introducing nixbuild.net: A Solution for Nix Builds
50:15 The Power of Concurrency in Build Services
54:11 Choosing nixbuild.net for Efficient Builds
55:17 Understanding Latency and On-Site Options
59:29 Hardware and Architectures for Nix Builds
01:01:37 When to Consider nixbuild.net
01:03:49 Managing Compatibility with Nix Versions
01:06:22 The Nix Community and Company Dynamics
01:07:59 Contributions to the Open Source Ecosystem
01:16:28 Internal Stack and Resource Management
01:21:05 Final Thoughts and Future Directions

https://opensource.apple.com/releases/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXTSTEP

https://brew.sh/

https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Property_list

https://repology.org/repository/nix_unstable

https://nixos.org/manual/nixpkgs/unstable/#chap-stdenv

https://libcxx.llvm.org/ReleaseNotes/19.html#deprecations-and-removals

Tracking issue for Darwin stdenv LLVM update:
https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/234710

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interface_Builder

https://developer.apple.com/metal/

https://developer.apple.com/xcode/

https://github.com/facebookarchive/xcbuild

https://ghostty.org/

https://nixos.org/manual/nixpkgs/unstable/#deploying-a-proxy-component-wrapper-exposing-xcode

MacVim in nixpkgs:
https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/50784a2835c150d6055861a5ad703a57b8070cbb/pkgs/applications/editors/vim/macvim.nix

https://github.com/orgs/NixOS/teams/darwin-core
https://github.com/reckenrode
https://github.com/emilazy
https://github.com/toonn

PR establishing the Darwin team:
https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/348183

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/corefoundation

macOS 15 Sequoia clobbers _nixbld1-4 users:
https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/10892

https://github.com/DeterminateSystems/nix-installer

https://fishshell.com/

https://github.com/LnL7/nix-darwin

Fixing waifu2x-converter-cpp on Darwin:
https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/135725

https://github.com/KhronosGroup/MoltenVK

https://www.vulkan.org/

Darwin SDK PR (has links to my PRs fixing issues):
https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/346043

Discourse post with the SDK update announcement:
https://discourse.nixos.org/t/the-darwin-sdks-have-been-updated/55295

• Atemu
• anthonyroussel
• azuwis
• boltzmannrain
• emilytrau
• josephst
• judofyr
• mfrischknech
• philiptaron
• toonn
• trofi
• wegank

• emilazy
• khaneliman
• paparodeo
• toonn

• niklaskorz (for Zed)
• booxter (for Firefox)

https://github.com/apple-oss-distributions

https://github.com/apple-oss-distributions/dyld

https://github.com/LnL7/nix-darwin

https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager

Another call for Darwin maintainers:
https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/323144

https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/pull/112

Generated chapters:

00:00 Introduct...

https://github.com/NixOS/nix/releases/tag/2.24.11
https://github.com/NixOS/nix/releases/tag/2.25.4
https://github.com/NixOS/nix/releases/tag/2.24.12
https://github.com/NixOS/nix/releases/tag/2.26.0
https://github.com/NixOS/nix/releases/tag/2.26.1

https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/6316

https://github.com/NixOS/nix/pull/12045

https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/pull/132

https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/commits?author=GaetanLepage
https://github.com/nix-community/nixvim

https://ensimag.grenoble-inp.fr/en
https://github.com/nix-community/nixvim/commits?author=traxys

https://nixos.org/manual/nixpkgs/unstable/#python
https://nix.dev/guides/recipes/python-environment.html
https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/Python

https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/tree/00c24cc9cabab1bb8828311a670242ac80dd2ac5/pkgs/development/python-modules/torch

https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/JAX
https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/tree/00c24cc9cabab1bb8828311a670242ac80dd2ac5/pkgs/development/python-modules/jax

https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/Tensorflow
https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/00c24cc9cabab1bb8828311a670242ac80dd2ac5/pkgs/development/python-modules/tensorflow

https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/00c24cc9cabab1bb8828311a670242ac80dd2ac5/pkgs/development/python-modules/protobuf

https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/157398

https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/pull/166
https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/pull/140

Some recent contributions by Gaétan
https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/362844
https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/363751
https://github.com/Mic92/nixpkgs-review/pull/440

https://github.com/NixOS/nixfmt
https://github.com/nix-community/nix-init

https://github.com/ekala-project
https://github.com/jonringer
https://github.com/nrdxp

https://github.com/nix-community/nixvim

https://github.com/nix-community/home-manager

Pedro Alves
https://github.com/pta2002

https://github.com/traxys
https://github.com/MattSturgeon
https://github.com/khaneliman
https://github.com/nix-community/nixvim/graphs/contributors

Nixvim: Configure Neovim with the power of Nix (NeovimConf 2023):
https://youtu.be/GOe0C7Qtypk?si=T9gd0evaS8W3HvG-

```
nix run github:mightyiam/infra#nixvim
```

https://github.com/folke/lazy.nvim
https://github.com/nvim-neorocks/lz.n

Generated chapters:

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
06:15 Understanding NixOS Use Cases
11:53 The Contribution Process Explained
25:22 Nixpkgs Review Tool and CI Challenges
34:26 Infrastructure and CI Limitations
38:37 Transitioning to GitHub Actions
45:07 Multi-System Evaluation Explained
50:32 Contributions to Python Packages
58:08 Challenges in Nix Packages
01:02:27 Recent Progress in Nixpkgs
01:07:53 NixVim Features and Benefits
01:11:22 Gaétan's Involvement in NixVim
01:19:33 NixVim: Configuration vs Distribution
01:23:44 NixVim Options and Flexibility
01:26:27 Plugin Management in NixVim
01:29:27 Settings and Configuration Options
01:32:06 Keeping Up with Plugin Changes
01:37:24 User Contributions and Community Engagement
01:44:13 Future Perspectives for NixVim

https://www.youtube.com/@molybdenumsoftware

https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/pull/101

https://github.com/NixOS/nixfmt

nixfmt created by https://serokell.io/

https://github.com/nix-community/nixpkgs-fmt

https://github.com/NixOS/rfcs/pull/166

https://github.com/kamadorueda/alejandra

https://piegames.de/
https://github.com/0x4A6F
https://github.com/tomberek
https://github.com/dasJ
https://nixos.org/community/teams/formatting/

https://github.com/numtide/treefmt

https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/322537
https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/322537#issuecomment-2532934880

https://www.tweag.io/
https://antithesis.com/

https://hintjens.gitbooks.io/social-architecture/content/chapter4.html

https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md

https://moduscreate.com/

Auto-generated chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Background
01:44 The Journey to Standardized Formatting
06:17 The Evolution of RFC 101 to 166
11:22 The Role of the Shepherd Team
15:59 Defining the Formatting Rules
19:51 Finalizing the RFC and Implementation
25:01 Implementation Insights and Challenges
27:23 Finalizing the Formatter and Addressing Issues
30:09 Tree-Wide Reformatting: Strategies and Challenges
34:15 Ensuring Consistency in Formatting
38:54 Future Plans for Formatting and Maintenance
46:51 Enhancing PR Review Processes
49:28 Streamlining Local Formatting with treefmt
53:14 Managing Version Control and Formatting Conflicts
55:45 The Role of the Formatting Team
57:16 Exploring Linting and Future Maintenance
01:01:02 Automation and Community Contributions
01:04:10 C4 Guidelines for Effective PR Reviews
01:07:30 The Future of Documentation and Automation
01:10:15 Motivation Behind Community Contributions

https://github.com/NixOS/nix/releases/tag/2.25.3

https://fulltimenix.com/episodes/martin-schwaighofer-steering-committee-candidate

https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rdriley/487/papers/Thompson_1984_ReflectionsonTrustingTrust.pdf

https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs

https://oxide.computer/

https://github.com/nix-community/lanzaboote

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFI#Secure_Boot

NixCon2024 rebuilding builders instead of trusting trust
https://youtu.be/UlJUpUQc9Lc?si=_EebfQszx062M2mR

Extending cloud build systems to eliminate transitive trust:
https://discourse.nixos.org/t/extending-cloud-build-systems-to-eliminate-transitive-trust/50841

https://scored.dev/

https://reproducible-builds.org/

Build systems à la carte: Theory and practice
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-functional-programming/article/build-systems-a-la-carte-theory-and-practice/097CE52C750E69BD16B78C318754C7A4?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=bookmark

Implementing a content-addressed Nix, 2 December 2021 — by Théophane Hufschmitt
https://www.tweag.io/blog/2021-12-02-nix-cas-4/

https://github.com/nix-community/trustix

https://nixos.org/research/

00:00 Introduction and Background
01:28 Martin's Journey in Computer Science
02:57 Compiler Construction Course Insights
04:20 The Concept of Self-Compiling Compilers
07:10 Hiding stuff in the compiler
08:47 Trusting Trust: Compiler Security Issues
09:58 Nix and Build Process Management
12:09 Bootstrapping and Auditing in Nixpkgs
13:21 Trust in Software and Hardware Security
18:01 Secure Boot and Its Implications
20:39 Scenario: Government Agency Targeting
22:15 More on boot security
28:09 The Role of Secure Boot and Measured Boot
29:52 Measured boot
35:13 Democratizing Trust with Remote Attestation
36:11 Raising the bar on security
39:31 Research Directions in Supply Chain Security
47:34 Enhancing Nix for Security and Efficiency
50:20 Understanding Reproducibility in Build Processes
53:13 Navigating Trust and Threat Models in Nix
53:22 Identifying Gaps in Nix's Trust Mechanisms
56:48 Attribution and Trust in Build Systems
01:05:35 Distinguishing Between Input and Content Addressing in Nix
01:06:38 Nix store hashes 
01:12:52 The Challenges of Content Addressing
01:14:04 Self-References and Their Implications
01:20:24 Trust and Attribution in Build Processes
01:24:31 Future Directions for Nix and Content Addressing
01:30:00 Sponsoring opportunity

Sponsor:

https://github.com/NixOS/nix/releases/tag/2.25.0
https://github.com/NixOS/nix/releases/tag/2.25.1
https://github.com/NixOS/nix/releases/tag/2.25.2

https://github.com/NixOS/SC-election-2024/blob/main/candidates/roberth.md

https://github.com/NixOS/SC-election-2024/blob/main/candidates/nyabinary.md

If you have any further questions for Niko, please reach out to them on Matrix at: @niko:nyanbinary.rs

https://github.com/NixOS/SC-election-2024/blob/main/candidates/numinit.md

https://github.com/NixOS/SC-election-2024/blob/main/candidates/djacu.md

https://github.com/NixOS/SC-election-2024/blob/main/candidates/phaer.md

https://github.com/NixOS/SC-election-2024/blob/main/candidates/asymmetric.md

https://github.com/NixOS/SC-election-2024/blob/main/candidates/mschwaig.md

https://github.com/NixOS/SC-election-2024/blob/main/candidates/Gabriella439.md

https://github.com/NixOS/SC-election-2024/blob/main/candidates/getchoo.md