From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from mp0 ([2001:41d0:2:4a6f::]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits)) by ms11 with LMTPS id KsxpF6VeoV96OAAA0tVLHw (envelope-from ) for ; Tue, 03 Nov 2020 13:44:05 +0000 Received: from aspmx1.migadu.com ([2001:41d0:2:4a6f::]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits)) by mp0 with LMTPS id ADftEqVeoV8zSQAA1q6Kng (envelope-from ) for ; Tue, 03 Nov 2020 13:44:05 +0000 Received: from lists.gnu.org (lists.gnu.org [209.51.188.17]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by aspmx1.migadu.com (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 0352D9404C7 for ; Tue, 3 Nov 2020 13:44:05 +0000 (UTC) Received: from localhost ([::1]:40638 helo=lists1p.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1kZwbS-00074f-TU for larch@yhetil.org; Tue, 03 Nov 2020 08:44:03 -0500 Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:470:142:3::10]:44814) by lists.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1kZwbC-000713-FH for guix-devel@gnu.org; Tue, 03 Nov 2020 08:43:46 -0500 Received: from fencepost.gnu.org ([2001:470:142:3::e]:43382) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1kZwbB-0004vd-BN; Tue, 03 Nov 2020 08:43:45 -0500 Received: from [2a01:e0a:1d:7270:af76:b9b:ca24:c465] (port=59110 helo=ribbon) by fencepost.gnu.org with esmtpsa (TLS1.2:RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:256) (Exim 4.82) (envelope-from ) id 1kZwbA-0003Tn-ME; Tue, 03 Nov 2020 08:43:45 -0500 From: =?utf-8?Q?Ludovic_Court=C3=A8s?= To: Arun Isaac Subject: Re: Etymology of derivation References: <87v9eolvwy.fsf@systemreboot.net> <87sg9rlt93.fsf@systemreboot.net> X-URL: http://www.fdn.fr/~lcourtes/ X-Revolutionary-Date: 13 Brumaire an 229 de la =?utf-8?Q?R=C3=A9volution?= X-PGP-Key-ID: 0x090B11993D9AEBB5 X-PGP-Key: http://www.fdn.fr/~lcourtes/ludovic.asc X-PGP-Fingerprint: 3CE4 6455 8A84 FDC6 9DB4 0CFB 090B 1199 3D9A EBB5 X-OS: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu Date: Tue, 03 Nov 2020 14:43:43 +0100 In-Reply-To: <87sg9rlt93.fsf@systemreboot.net> (Arun Isaac's message of "Mon, 02 Nov 2020 20:07:28 +0530") Message-ID: <87blgeeesw.fsf@gnu.org> User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/27.1 (gnu/linux) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-BeenThere: guix-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.23 Precedence: list List-Id: "Development of GNU Guix and the GNU System distribution." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Cc: guix-devel@gnu.org Errors-To: guix-devel-bounces+larch=yhetil.org@gnu.org Sender: "Guix-devel" X-Scanner: ns3122888.ip-94-23-21.eu Authentication-Results: aspmx1.migadu.com; dkim=none; dmarc=pass (policy=none) header.from=gnu.org; spf=pass (aspmx1.migadu.com: domain of guix-devel-bounces@gnu.org designates 209.51.188.17 as permitted sender) smtp.mailfrom=guix-devel-bounces@gnu.org X-Spam-Score: -1.51 X-TUID: Nxn7D58Ma0AK Hi, Arun Isaac skribis: > The original Nix publication was helpful. On page 22 of the full thesis, > it says: > > Derivation is Nix-speak for a component build action, which derives > the component from its inputs. Not sure if it helps, but I struggled a bit with the etymology of the word as well and wrote this in the manual (info "(guix) Programming Interface"): Lower-level APIs are available to interact with the daemon and the store. To instruct the daemon to perform a build action, users actually provide it with a =E2=80=9Cderivation=E2=80=9D. A derivation is a low-le= vel representation of the build actions to be taken, and the environment in which they should occur=E2=80=94derivations are to package definitions wh= at assembly is to C programs. The term =E2=80=9Cderivation=E2=80=9D comes f= rom the fact that build results _derive_ from them. Ludo=E2=80=99.