NixOS / NixOS/nix.dev

Nix install commands are (practically) incorrect

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Description

Observations

The Nix install commands within the installation documentation (curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install | sh -s -- --daemon) make it so that the installer always runs headlessly.

Problem

Especially for a new user, losing the verboseness of the questions the script asks is definitely an issue.

Approaches

We went through this dance once before, see https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/5238 and https://github.com/NixOS/nix/pull/5395. How did we get back to using the pipe?

Willing to help?

Sure, I would just appreciate context as to how exactly we ended up back to using the pipe, which definitely isn't ideal.

Priorities

Add 👍 to issues you find important.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the installation documentation at https://nix.dev/install-nix and inspect the Nix install command shown there. Read the linked Nix issue and pull request for context on the command's behavior; done means the documented installation flow preserves the installer's questions and verbosity for new users.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
shell
Domain
documentation
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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