[Tracking] Documentation: Remove `nix-env` from the Nixpkgs manual

fricklerhandwerk commented 1 year ago

Problem

Beginners are still nudged to use nix-env, although that will not do what they expect or need from their Nix setup soon after. Lots of parts in the Nixpkgs manual are quite old, from a time where declarative patterns were not as much evolved yet. Today we have more predictable alternatives, and should at the very least implicitly recommend ephemeral environments wherever possible.

This was discussed with the @nixos/documentation-team

Proposal

Remove all occurrences of nix-env. And you can help!

How to help

Check for open PRs related to nix-env
Open the latest Nixpkgs manual and search for instances of nix-env not being worked on yet
Take any occurrence that seems easy enough to replace with nix-shell
In a clone of the Nixpkgs repo, start the manual preview that will automatically update on changes:
```
$ cd doc
$ nix-shell 
[nix-shell]$ devmode
```
Make the change and work through the examples to make sure they actually work

There may be sections that need a complete rewrite to start making sense. Ideally the change should still focus on simply avoiding nix-env. If you're interested in a particular topic, consider owning that piece of documentation and reworking it to be up-to-date with current best practices.

Work done

nixos-discourse commented 1 year ago

This issue has been mentioned on NixOS Discourse. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.nixos.org/t/2023-11-02-documentation-team-meeting-notes-91/34938/1

nixos-discourse commented 6 months ago

This issue has been mentioned on NixOS Discourse. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.nixos.org/t/is-it-wrong-for-me-to-ignore-flakes-and-home-manager-until-they-become-officially-integrated-into-nix/44026/9

NixOS / nixpkgs