What is this?
omnibin is a FUSE-based lazy filesystem that puts every binary ever published across 13+ years of nixpkgs on your PATH, fetching each package's bytes from cache.nixos.org only when a file inside it is actually read.
omnibin is a FUSE-based lazy filesystem that puts every binary ever published across 13+ years of nixpkgs on your PATH, fetching each package's bytes from cache.nixos.org only when a file inside it is actually read.Is this a package manager, or something else?It's two overlaid filesystems: /omnibin/bin lists every executable name anyone ever shipped, and /nix/store underneath is a lazy store that pulls a package's bytes from cache.nixos.org the first time a file in it is read. A SQLite index backs the search side.
It's two overlaid filesystems: /omnibin/bin lists every executable name anyone ever shipped, and /nix/store underneath is a lazy store that pulls a package's bytes from cache.nixos.org the first time a file in it is read. A SQLite index backs the search side.How do I get omnibin running?There are three entry points: run it in a shell on any Linux box where it mounts the lazy store inside a user/mount namespace that dies with the shell, install the NixOS module to have every package available system-wide, or run the fmzakari/omnibin Docker image as a base for a full toolbox.
There are three entry points: run it in a shell on any Linux box where it mounts the lazy store inside a user/mount namespace that dies with the shell, install the NixOS module to have every package available system-wide, or run the fmzakari/omnibin Docker image as a base for a full toolbox.What does the container setup need to actually mount the store?Running omnibin inside Docker needs the SYS_ADMIN capability for mounting and access to /dev/fuse for FUSE — nothing else.
Running omnibin inside Docker needs the SYS_ADMIN capability for mounting and access to /dev/fuse for FUSE — nothing else.Can I use omnibin inside a Dockerfile's RUN steps?No — docker build gives a RUN step neither /dev/fuse nor the mount capability, so calling a tool there fails just like on any base image without it; the mount is only up once the container is running, so the work has to go in CMD or ENTRYPOINT instead.
No — docker build gives a RUN step neither /dev/fuse nor the mount capability, so calling a tool there fails just like on any base image without it; the mount is only up once the container is running, so the work has to go in CMD or ENTRYPOINT instead.Does this need NixOS, or will it run on any Linux machine?The shell mode works on any Linux machine: the lazy store is mounted over /nix/store inside a user and mount namespace tied to that shell, leaving your real store untouched.
The shell mode works on any Linux machine: the lazy store is mounted over /nix/store inside a user and mount namespace tied to that shell, leaving your real store untouched.Why did the author build omnibin instead of just pre-installing packages in a sandbox image?Agent sandboxes either guess short and get stuck mid-task, or guess long and ship a ten-gigabyte image. omnibin starts with every nixpkgs binary already on the PATH and you only pay in bandwidth and disk for what actually runs.
Agent sandboxes either guess short and get stuck mid-task, or guess long and ship a ten-gigabyte image. omnibin starts with every nixpkgs binary already on the PATH and you only pay in bandwidth and disk for what actually runs.What is nixpkgs-multiverse and how does omnibin use it?nixpkgs-multiverse resolves any (package, version) pair across 13 years of nixpkgs history to the exact store path Hydra built; omnibin crawls the file listings Hydra publishes beside those store paths to build its own searchable index.
nixpkgs-multiverse resolves any (package, version) pair across 13 years of nixpkgs history to the exact store path Hydra built; omnibin crawls the file listings Hydra publishes beside those store paths to build its own searchable index.How do I find which package provides a given command?Run 'omnibin which ' to look it up in the crawled SQLite index at /omnibin/index.db at zero network cost, or browse the full searchable index on the project's site.
Run 'omnibin which ' to look it up in the crawled SQLite index at /omnibin/index.db at zero network cost, or browse the full searchable index on the project's site.What does it actually cost to run a package you've never used before?Only the first read pays: fetching CPython 3.6.2 for the first time pulled three store paths totaling 92 MB (interpreter, glibc, and one more); every run after that is served from the unpacked copy with zero network calls.
Only the first read pays: fetching CPython 3.6.2 for the first time pulled three store paths totaling 92 MB (interpreter, glibc, and one more); every run after that is served from the unpacked copy with zero network calls.Which topics is it in?fuse, nixos, container, nix, filesystem, toolkit, caching, offline-first, package-manager, sandbox, sysadmin, sqlite
fuse, nixos, container, nix, filesystem, toolkit, caching, offline-first, package-manager, sandbox, sysadmin, sqlite