nixpkgs/nixos/doc/manual/preface.md

# Preface {#preface}

This manual describes how to install, use and extend NixOS, a Linux distribution based on the purely functional package management system [Nix](https://nixos.org/nix), that is composed using modules and packages defined in the [Nixpkgs](https://nixos.org/nixpkgs) project.

Additional information regarding the Nix package manager and the Nixpkgs project can be found in respectively the [Nix manual](https://nixos.org/nix/manual) and the [Nixpkgs manual](https://nixos.org/nixpkgs/manual).

If you encounter problems, please report them on the [`Discourse`](https://discourse.nixos.org), the [Matrix room](https://matrix.to/#/%23nix:nixos.org), or on the [`#nixos` channel on Libera.Chat](irc://irc.libera.chat/#nixos). Alternatively, consider [contributing to this manual](#chap-contributing). Bugs should be reported in [NixOS’ GitHub issue tracker](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues).

::: {.note}
Commands prefixed with `#` have to be run as root, either requiring to login as root user or temporarily switching to it using `sudo` for example.
:::
-												nixos-render-docs: add structural includes, use for manual

this adds support for structural includes to nixos-render-docs.
structural includes provide a way to denote the (sub)structure of the
nixos manual in the markdown source files, very similar to how we used
literal docbook blocks before, and are processed by nixos-render-docs
without involvement of xml tooling. this will ultimately allow us to
emit the nixos manual in other formats as well, e.g. html, without going
through docbook at all.

alternatives to this source layout were also considered:

a parallel structure using e.g. toml files that describe the document
tree and links to each part is possible, but much more complicated to
implement than the solution chosen here and makes it harder to follow
which files have what substructure. it also makes it much harder to
include a substructure in the middle of a file.

much the same goes for command-line arguments to the converter, only
that command-lined arguments are even harder to specify correctly and
cannot be reasonably pulled together from many places without involving
another layer of tooling. cli arguments would also mean that the manual
structure would be fixed in default.nix, which is also not ideal.

											
										
										
											2023-02-11 07:48:06 +00:00
+								# Preface {#preface}
 								This manual describes how to install, use and extend NixOS, a Linux distribution based on the purely functional package management system [Nix](https://nixos.org/nix), that is composed using modules and packages defined in the [Nixpkgs](https://nixos.org/nixpkgs) project.
 								Additional information regarding the Nix package manager and the Nixpkgs project can be found in respectively the [Nix manual](https://nixos.org/nix/manual) and the [Nixpkgs manual](https://nixos.org/nixpkgs/manual).
-												manual: fix matrix room link (#231523)

Co-authored-by: figsoda <figsoda@pm.me>

											
										
										
											2023-05-12 23:55:19 +01:00
+								If you encounter problems, please report them on the [`Discourse`](https://discourse.nixos.org), the [Matrix room](https://matrix.to/#/%23nix:nixos.org), or on the [`#nixos` channel on Libera.Chat](irc://irc.libera.chat/#nixos). Alternatively, consider [contributing to this manual](#chap-contributing). Bugs should be reported in [NixOS’ GitHub issue tracker](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues).
-												nixos-render-docs: add structural includes, use for manual

this adds support for structural includes to nixos-render-docs.
structural includes provide a way to denote the (sub)structure of the
nixos manual in the markdown source files, very similar to how we used
literal docbook blocks before, and are processed by nixos-render-docs
without involvement of xml tooling. this will ultimately allow us to
emit the nixos manual in other formats as well, e.g. html, without going
through docbook at all.

alternatives to this source layout were also considered:

a parallel structure using e.g. toml files that describe the document
tree and links to each part is possible, but much more complicated to
implement than the solution chosen here and makes it harder to follow
which files have what substructure. it also makes it much harder to
include a substructure in the middle of a file.

much the same goes for command-line arguments to the converter, only
that command-lined arguments are even harder to specify correctly and
cannot be reasonably pulled together from many places without involving
another layer of tooling. cli arguments would also mean that the manual
structure would be fixed in default.nix, which is also not ideal.

											
										
										
											2023-02-11 07:48:06 +00:00
 								::: {.note}
 								Commands prefixed with `#` have to be run as root, either requiring to login as root user or temporarily switching to it using `sudo` for example.
 								:::