nixpkgs-multiverse: every version that ever existed
The article discusses the creation of nixpkgs-multiverse, a flake input that provides access to every version of every package that has ever existed in the Nixpkgs repository. The author explains how they encountered issues with packages being "bumped forward" in NixOS, leading them to pin specific commits to maintain their desired versions.
This led to the realization of the need for a more streamlined solution, which ultimately resulted in the development of nixpkgs-multiverse. The author explains how the new flake input fetches revisions lazily using builtins.fetchTree, only when they are actually referenced, and how it limits commits to those that were actually built and cached by Hydra.
This allows for easy access to all the versions of packages without having to pin specific commits or maintain multiple nixpkgs inputs.
Brief written by urgent.news from Lobsters's own syndicated text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
