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hyperpolymath merged 1 commit into from
Jul 29, 2026
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docs(policy): retiring a flake means its references too #566

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29 changes: 29 additions & 0 deletions LANGUAGE-POLICY.adoc
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Expand Up @@ -77,6 +77,35 @@ WARNING: Do *not* mass-delete `flake.nix`. Campaign #102 hand-diffed 277
candidates and removed exactly *one*. Fan-out REMOVE verdicts have a measured
~100% over-call rate here. Removal is a per-repo judgement, not a sweep.

HARDENED 2026-07-28 (owner ruling): Nix flakes are to be *thrown out* of the
estate, not merely tolerated where they linger. Reconcile that with the warning
above as follows: removal remains a **per-repo judgement made while you are
already working in that repo** — opportunistic, never a fan-out sweep.

When you do retire a flake, remove the *references* as well as the file.
Measured on `trope-checker` (PR #47), one `flake.nix` had ten satellites, and
leaving any of them behind keeps Nix alive in the toolchain:

* `.envrc` — a direnv `use flake` block
* `Justfile` (and `.machine_readable/contractiles/Justfile`) — a `nix-shell` recipe
* `build/setup.sh` — `nix` in package-manager detection and the install switch
* `install-tools.sh` — a `flake.nix`-detecting branch, often ahead of Guix
* `.github/dependabot.yml` — a `nix` `package-ecosystem` entry
* `.gitignore` / `.gitattributes` — `flake.lock` and `*.nix` rules
* `compliance/reuse/dep5` — `flake.lock` in the lockfile glob
* docs and `PLAYBOOK.a2ml` prose

CAUTION: `dependabot.yml` rejects the *whole file* on one malformed entry —
re-parse it after removing the `nix` ecosystem. And do not "tidy" a root
`.githooks/` away while you are there: it is usually load-bearing (CI runs
validators directly from it); allowlist it in `root-allow.txt` instead.

Retiring the mirror does not finish the job. A repo whose `guix.scm` is a
scaffold stub — empty `inputs`, `TODO` markers, or a `{{PROJECT_NAME}}`
placeholder — has *no working packaging* once the flake is gone. Make the Guix
side real, or fill the sealed container, *in the same change*. Do not allowlist
the flake instead.

=== 2.2 Identity and licence in `guix.scm`

A `guix.scm` must name *its own project*. Measured 2026-07-29 across 418 repos:
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