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nix/doc/manual/src/quick-start.md
Valentin Gagarin 02d9cf2d30 shorten the quick start chapter 
this focuses on `nix-shell -p` and refers to search.nixos.org for
package search, which is currently the easiest and most effective way to
find program names.
2023-12-01 00:42:34 +01:00

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Quick Start

This chapter is for impatient people who don't like reading documentation. For more in-depth information you are kindly referred to subsequent chapters.

  1. Install Nix:

    $ curl -L https://nixos.org/nix/install | sh

    The install script will use sudo, so make sure you have sufficient rights. On Linux, --daemon can be omitted for a single-user install.

    For other installation methods, see the detailed installation instructions.

  2. Run software without installing it permanently:

    $ nix-shell --packages cowsay lolcat

    This downloads the specified packages with all their dependencies, and drops you into a Bash shell where the commands provided by those packages are present. This will not affect your normal environment:

    [nix-shell:~]$ cowsay Hello, Nix! | lolcat

    Exiting the shell will make the programs disappear again:

    [nix-shell:~]$ exit
$ lolcat
lolcat: command not found

  3. Search for more packages on <search.nixos.org> to try them out.

  4. Free up storage space:

    $ nix-collect-garbage