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Frequently asked questions
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<section itemprop="articleBody" id="Content" class="Content Article-body">
<div class="details">
<details>
<summary>
How to pronounce âNixtamalâ?
</summary>
<p>
<strong>/nɪÊ.tÉËmal/</strong> <em>or</em> <strong>/ËnɪkstÉËmÉËl/</strong>
</p>
<p>
The Nahuatl pronunciation is a bit better, but no qualms with an anglicized pronunciationâââas folks are probably used to Nix as /Ënɪks/.
</p>
<p>
Additionally, ·ð¯ð¦ððð©ð¥ðð¤ is a valid spelling for <code>en-Shaw</code>.
</p>
</details>
<details>
<summary>
What does the name mean?
</summary>
<figure class="Quoteblock">
<blockquote>
<p>
: limed kernels of [maize] that is ready to be ground into masa
</p>
</blockquote>
<figcaption>
ââMerriam-Webster, <cite><a class="reference external" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nixtamal">nixtamal</a></cite>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>
This loosens the maizeâs outer hull, so it grinds easier & feeds you betterâââmaking it key to Mesoamerican food & health.
</p>
</details>
<details>
<summary>
What is âfreshnessâ?
</summary>
<p>
The dual to <em>fresh</em> is <em>stale</em>. Is your input <em>stale</em>? Letâs check the <code>fresh-cmd</code> to find out!
</p>
<p>
The word âlatestâ wasnât quite appropriate since itâs up the user to decide what <em>fresh</em> means for their contextâââwhich often isnât âlatestâ.
The idea is: so long as it can be executed in your shell & returns a string that can be compared against, you can write honestly whatever you want.
This also pairs well with the command named <code>nixtamal refresh</code> (same as <code>pkcon refresh</code>) which runs the <code>fresh-cmd</code> which can short-circuit trying to prefetch your input to prevent wasteful network usage to download inputs or getting versions you donât want (itâs your logic).
</p>
</details>
<details>
<summary>
Can I get <code>$X</code> fetcher supported? How to add a fetcher?
</summary>
<p>
We donât believe it is in this projectâs or the Commonsâ interest to carve out special support for any fetchers (patches had to do this for <code>fetchpatch2</code>, but this was to enable a broader feature).
What you should do is submit a patchset to upstream Nixpkgs with your fetcherâââideally with <abbr title="JavaScript Object Notation">JSON</abbr> support like the others along with being added to <code>pkgs.nix-prefetch-scripts</code>.
This enables <em>Nix community</em> to have access to your prefetcher, not just Nixtamal which would be selfishly hoarding that capability.
Once it is merged, ping me & we can write or help you write the code needed.
</p>
</details>
<details>
<summary>
Isnât Nixpkgs big/overkill to do pinning?
</summary>
<p>
Big, yes.
Overkill⦠itâs not as simple.
In order to get access to the fetchers, one would need to bootstrap their setup & build their own <code>derivation</code>.
This includes at minimum a C compiler & some form of <code>coreutils</code>⦠except you need more than this.
For instance if you want to use <code>pkgs.fetchdarcs</code> or even create your own, you need a Darcs binary, which requires the Haskell tooling (or all static binaries built for specific platforms).
When you take a look at how that would be set up, you would effectively be reimplementing Nixpkgs.
As such, the simpler answer is to say Nixpkgs is effectively <em>required</em>.
We can giggle about the size of that dependency, but the reality is 98% of projects using Nix are going to be using Nixpkgs anyhow.
Nixtamal does offer configuration when <code>import</code>ing it which can be used to provide a minimal package set if needed.
Wishful thoughts would be that if Nixpkgs werenât so monolithic, core features like compilers & fetchers could be separate from general packaging, but where these lines get drawn are neither clear nor simple.
</p>
</details>
<details>
<summary>
Why OCaml as the main programming language?
</summary>
<p>
Nix the programming language falls in the <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ML_(programming_language)">ML</a> family & share a lot of syntax & conventions with other functional languages in the family.
This makes the code more approachable to those familiar with Nix rather than needing to learn a very different language like Npins (Rust) or Yae (Go).
The compile times are fast & the ecosystem is sufficient.
</p>
</details>
<details>
<summary>
Why <a class="reference external" href="https://kdl.dev"><abbr title="KDL Document language">KDL</abbr></a> for the manifest language?
</summary>
<p>
<abbr title="KDL Document language">KDL</abbr> has a syntax that isnât a burden to use a configuration languageâââwhich helps explain why is very popular for its age.
<abbr title="JavaScript Object Notation">JSON</abbr> has no comments, one must watch commas, & is verbose with quotations.
<abbr title="Tomâs Obvious, Minimal Language">TOML</abbr> doesnât nest well.
<abbr title="Yet Another Markup Language">YAML</abbr> is overly complex.
Nickel is great, but needs to be transformed into one of these others.
<abbr title="Extensible Data Notation">EDN</abbr> was considered, but <abbr title="KDL Document language">KDL</abbr> felt better to writeâââespecially the <code>fresh-cmd</code> syntax using <code>$</code> & <code>|</code> as node names.
<abbr title="KDL Document language">KDL</abbr> has a schema language & a best-attempt schema.kdl should be shipped as well for future <abbr title="KDL Document language">KDL</abbr> tooling or <abbr title="large language model">LLM</abbr> assistance.
</p>
</details>
<details>
<summary>
Why even have a manifest file at all?
</summary>
<p>
Have you ever needed to switch branches on an input to something stable or next to get code working?
The reality is your inputs evolve over time.
If you have ever used <code>flake.nix</code>âs <code>inputs</code> you probably had a good experience of say changing a Git inputâs <code>?ref=â¦</code> to point to a different branch/revision.
These <abbr title="command-line interface">CLI</abbr>-only options donât make this a nice experienceâyou either need to know the input key name to upsert it at the new reference point or you had to go spelunking in the lockfile (meaning you needed to be wary of <abbr title="JavaScript Object Notation">JSON</abbr> rules, but also wasnât the lockfile supposed to be machine-generated⦠& why do these lockfiles have data unrelated to locking?).
The reality is that <em>betting on text</em> has been a long-standing practice for a reason.
In the long run, a manifest file makes changing reference points, adding patches, changing hash algorithms easierâas well as being easier for humans (& prehaps <abbr title="large language model">LLM</abbr>s) to understand.
</p>
</details>
<details>
<summary>
Why not <abbr title="KDL Document language">KDL</abbr> for the lockfile?
</summary>
<p>
Nix does does not have a <code>builtins.fromKDL</code> (tho there has been <a title="Beware: this hyperlink will take you to GitHub, a proprietary code forge owned by a US-based, publicly-traded megacorporation, Microsoft which is using your data to train AIs & then sell it back to you" class="bad-proprietary reference external" href="https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/426828">some rumblings for formats.kdl in Nixpkgs</a>).
As such your options are <code>builtins.fromJSON</code> or <code>builtins.fromTOML</code> & the Rust communityâs obsession with <abbr title="Tomâs Obvious, Minimal Language">TOML</abbr> & that <abbr title="Tomâs Obvious, Minimal Language">TOML</abbr> needs to integrate <abbr title="JavaScript Object Notation">JSON</abbr> syntax anyway (just like <abbr title="Yet Another Markup Language">YAML</abbr>), it tips the scales in <abbr title="JavaScript Object Notation">JSON</abbr>âs favor.
</p>
</details>
<details>
<summary>
Why is the project using <a class="reference external" href="https://darcs.net"><abbr title="Darcs Advanced Revision Control System">Darcs</abbr></a> & not Git?
</summary>
<p>
<a class="reference external" href="https://darcs.net/Theory">Patch Theory</a> is cool where patches commute (order doesnât matter) which eliminates an entire set of merge conflicts present in snapshot-based <abbr title="version control system">VCS</abbr>s.
Pijul has the same theory behind it, is faster, & the new identity concept is what should have been (instead of name + email burned in the commits), but still lacks tooling.
By using <abbr title="Darcs Advanced Revision Control System">Darcs</abbr>, we can also <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_your_own_dog_food">dogfood</a> support for Nixtamal.
Git uses an arcane, obtuse <abbr title="command-line interface">CLI</abbr> commands that everyone knows is overly complicated & inconsistent, so why not try something fundamentally different?
</p>
<p>
However, <em>do not</em> be surprised if this project moves to Pijul if the tooling gets better since Darcs has been tested well enough, which would mean it would be Pijulâs turn next!
<abbr title="Darcs Advanced Revision Control System">Darcs</abbr> is still worked on albeit it slower, but it also has some warts time has left on it.
If there is a simple, self-hostable <abbr title="Hypertext Transfer Protocol">HTTP</abbr> option for the server & a better story for rebase, <a itemprop="url" href="https://toast.al"><span itemtype="https://schema.org/Person" itemscope="" class="peer"><span itemprop="name">toastal</span></span></a> could switch.
</p>
</details>
<details>
<summary>
Will the project make a Git mirror?
</summary>
<p>
No.
This defeats the purpose of dogfooding actual alternative <abbr title="version control system">VCS</abbr>s.
If you see a Git mirror, itâs 100% unofficialâââif not illegitimate.
</p>
</details>
<details>
<summary>
What is wrong with with forge-specific <abbr title="uniform resource locator">URL</abbr> schemes or semantics?
</summary>
<p>
Trends shiftâââwhatâs beloved now likely wonât be tomorrow.
Rather than a minor convenience for what is popular now, a better design is to not give any place special privilege.
This special privilege can make folks feel peer pressured into using the current trend platform (<em>especially</em> <a class="reference external" href="https://mako.cc/writing/hill-free_tools.html">proprietary code forges for free software</a>).
We donât want to foster this behaviorâââno, we want to see more self-hosting
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