🎉 I’m a nixpkgs Maintainer

Nix + Sail Logo

In the second post of this blog I wrote:

“In the future, if I have time, I’d like to contribute to packaging pysail for Nix.”

Well, not only did I do it, but I’m now a nixpkgs maintainer, and the first package I maintain is Sail. 🚀

🏔️ The Hard Part: The First Merge

The most challenging part of contributing to nixpkgs is the first PR. The repository is huge, it has its own conventions, and the review process is demanding (and rightfully so).

For that first merge you need to:

Understand the nixpkgs structure and how packaging works
Write the correct derivation (in Sail’s case, a Rust project with dependencies)
Pass all CI checks
Respond to the nixpkgs team’s review
Be patient 😄

But once your package is in and you’re a maintainer… everything changes.

⚡ Version Update: 4 Commands

Once you’re a maintainer, bumping a version is ridiculously simple. It’s literally 4 commands. Why? Because nixpkgs already has tools built for this. You just need to enter a nix-shell with the nix-update tool and it does the heavy lifting for you.

1. Enter the shell with nix-update

nix-shell -p nix-update

We enter a temporary Nix shell that has the nix-update tool available. No need to install anything on your system — it downloads and runs on the fly.

2. Update the package

nix-update sail

This is the command that does the magic. nix-update automatically:

Detects the latest version from the upstream repository
Updates the source hash
Updates the cargoHash (Rust dependencies)
Modifies the default.nix file with the new version

3. Build and verify

nix-build -A sail

We build the package with the new version to make sure everything works.

4. Check the version

./result/bin/sail --version

If the version is correct, just open a PR and you’re done.

🔄 The Full Flow

New Sail version released
        ↓
nix-shell -p nix-update
        ↓
nix-update sail
        ↓
nix-build -A sail
        ↓
./result/bin/sail --version
        ↓
git commit + PR → merge ✅

From a task that took days the first time, to something done in minutes.

💭 Final Thoughts

Contributing to nixpkgs seemed out of reach when I wrote that post. But in the end, the hardest step is the first one. Once you’re in, maintaining a package is simple and rewarding.

And to be honest: I love Sail. Coming from the Spark world, where I know its optimizations, its internals and its limitations, seeing how Sail reimplements all of that in Rust with DataFusion is fascinating. It’s not just about using it — it’s about understanding how it works under the hood and, over time, being able to help implement things I already know from the Spark ecosystem.

As Marcus Aurelius said: “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” The difficulty of the first PR was precisely what led me to become a maintainer.

If you use Nix and there’s a package you’d like to see in nixpkgs… go for it. The first PR is tough, but the following ones are just a few commands. 🚀

nixpkgs Maintainer

devel0pez