mkShell: introduce packages argument (#122180)

The distinction between the inputs doesn't really make sense in the
mkShell context.  Technically speaking, we should be using the
nativeBuildInputs most of the time.

So in order to make this function more beginner-friendly, add "packages"
as an attribute, that maps to nativeBuildInputs.

This commit also updates all the uses in nixpkgs.

1 files changed, 6 insertions, 4 deletions

diff --git a/doc/builders/special/mkshell.section.md b/doc/builders/special/mkshell.section.md
index 1feb75cbd6f78..8a62c50e17dd3 100644
--- a/doc/builders/special/mkshell.section.md
+++ b/doc/builders/special/mkshell.section.md
@@ -1,15 +1,17 @@
 # pkgs.mkShell {#sec-pkgs-mkShell}
 
-`pkgs.mkShell` is a special kind of derivation that is only useful when using it combined with `nix-shell`. It will in fact fail to instantiate when invoked with `nix-build`.
+`pkgs.mkShell` is a special kind of derivation that is only useful when using
+it combined with `nix-shell`. It will in fact fail to instantiate when invoked
+with `nix-build`.
 
 ## Usage {#sec-pkgs-mkShell-usage}
 
 ```nix
 { pkgs ? import <nixpkgs> {} }:
 pkgs.mkShell {
-  # this will make all the build inputs from hello and gnutar
-  # available to the shell environment
+  # specify which packages to add to the shell environment
+  packages = [ pkgs.gnumake ];
+  # add all the dependencies, of the given packages, to the shell environment
   inputsFrom = with pkgs; [ hello gnutar ];
-  buildInputs = [ pkgs.gnumake ];
 }
 ```