Template talk:Nixos:package: Difference between revisions

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:::I'm thinking here very much from a user perspective: If I'm being served a link off the wiki, I would want it to contain ''more'' information than the wiki itself, right? Otherwise there's no point linking somewhere external in the first place. That's why I don't think this template makes sense with the current search interface at all, it's ''less useful'' than the page it's being used on. However, linking to the nixpkgs file is ''more usefu'' than the page, because the user can see the additional build options that package may have.

:::If we're talking about having ''a link'' to the corresponding Nix package entry, we could implement this via {{tl|infobox application}} (or the corresponding one) further down the line [[User:DoggoBit|DoggoBit]] ([[User talk:DoggoBit|talk]]) 21:55, 8 June 2025 (UTC)

::::But linking to search.nixos.org '''DOES''' provide more information on packages than linking to the nixpkgs source code. The search query result includes the link to the source code AND more. See my example above with the <code>ghc</code> package.

::::It is useful to the end user as it '''DOES''' include more information than what is on a wiki page, such as the current version. We wouldn't want to include information like package versions on the wiki since they can update very frequently. Would be cool to maybe auto-generate an {{:infobox application}} with the nixpkg information. I've toyed around with this idea before and have gone as so far to make a prototype mediawiki plugin that does it.

::::<br>

::::Another example that I have used {{:nixos:package}} in the past has been linking to package sets. For example, {{nixos:package|haskellPackages.*}}. What am I suppose to do here? Link to the nixpkg file that contains all the haskellPackages that is so big it can't even render on github? https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/nixos-25.05/pkgs/development/haskell-modules/hackage-packages.nix

::::<br>

::::This isn't most useful template, but it still has use cases and adds value to some wiki pages. I'm up for replacing this template with something else that contains the same information as search.nixos.org has on packages, but as I am aware that information is only able to be generated from evaluating the nix expressions in nixpkgs (which search.nixos.org does and stores it in an elasticache instance). [[User:Pigs|Pigs]] ([[User talk:Pigs|talk]]) 01:56, 9 June 2025 (UTC)

:::::Fair enough, you do bring up good points here, especially regarding package sets. I still think there isn't enough new information to justify leading the reader off the wiki. However, I'd be fine if we decided to keep it (and rename it to something saner :)) ). I'll leave the notice for the 30 days, and see if anyone else has strong thoughts on this. Otherwise, we can keep it and I'll have a look through where it's used, rephrasing or reformatting to improve the surrounding context at least.

:::::Thanks for your thoughts! Super helpful stuff. [[User:DoggoBit|DoggoBit]] ([[User talk:DoggoBit|talk]]) 13:24, 9 June 2025 (UTC)

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 :::I'm thinking here very much from a user perspective: If I'm being served a link off the wiki, I would want it to contain ''more'' information than the wiki itself, right? Otherwise there's no point linking somewhere external in the first place. That's why I don't think this template makes sense with the current search interface at all, it's ''less useful'' than the page it's being used on. However, linking to the nixpkgs file is ''more usefu'' than the page, because the user can see the additional build options that package may have.
 :::If we're talking about having ''a link'' to the corresponding Nix package entry, we could implement this via {{tl|infobox application}} (or the corresponding one) further down the line [[User:DoggoBit|DoggoBit]] ([[User talk:DoggoBit|talk]]) 21:55, 8 June 2025 (UTC)
+::::But linking to search.nixos.org '''DOES''' provide more information on packages than linking to the nixpkgs source code. The search query result includes the link to the source code AND more. See my example above with the <code>ghc</code> package.
+::::It is useful to the end user as it '''DOES''' include more information than what is on a wiki page, such as the current version. We wouldn't want to include information like package versions on the wiki since they can update very frequently. Would be cool to maybe auto-generate an {{:infobox application}} with the nixpkg information. I've toyed around with this idea before and have gone as so far to make a prototype mediawiki plugin that does it.
+::::<br>
+::::Another example that I have used {{:nixos:package}} in the past has been linking to package sets. For example, {{nixos:package|haskellPackages.*}}. What am I suppose to do here? Link to the nixpkg file that contains all the haskellPackages that is so big it can't even render on github? https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/nixos-25.05/pkgs/development/haskell-modules/hackage-packages.nix
+::::<br>
+::::This isn't most useful template, but it still has use cases and adds value to some wiki pages. I'm up for replacing this template with something else that contains the same information as search.nixos.org has on packages, but as I am aware that information is only able to be generated from evaluating the nix expressions in nixpkgs (which search.nixos.org does and stores it in an elasticache instance). [[User:Pigs|Pigs]] ([[User talk:Pigs|talk]]) 01:56, 9 June 2025 (UTC)
+:::::Fair enough, you do bring up good points here, especially regarding package sets. I still think there isn't enough new information to justify leading the reader off the wiki. However, I'd be fine if we decided to keep it (and rename it to something saner :)) ). I'll leave the notice for the 30 days, and see if anyone else has strong thoughts on this. Otherwise, we can keep it and I'll have a look through where it's used, rephrasing or reformatting to improve the surrounding context at least.
+:::::Thanks for your thoughts! Super helpful stuff. [[User:DoggoBit|DoggoBit]] ([[User talk:DoggoBit|talk]]) 13:24, 9 June 2025 (UTC)