nixpkgs: add nixos function

1 files changed, 14 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1809.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1809.xml
index 61f9ec8ba9950..29abea1afd6a5 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1809.xml
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/release-notes/rl-1809.xml
@@ -77,6 +77,20 @@ following incompatible changes:</para>
 <itemizedlist>
   <listitem>
     <para>
+      The <literal>pkgs</literal> argument to NixOS modules can now be set directly using <literal>nixpkgs.pkgs</literal>. Previously, only the <literal>system</literal>, <literal>config</literal> and <literal>overlays</literal> arguments could be used to influence <literal>pkgs</literal>.
+    </para>
+  </listitem>
+  <listitem>
+    <para>
+      A NixOS system can now be constructed more easily based on a preexisting invocation of Nixpkgs. For example:
+      <programlisting>
+inherit (pkgs.nixos {
+  boot.loader.grub.enable = false;
+  fileSystems."/".device = "/dev/xvda1";
+}) toplevel kernel initialRamdisk manual;
+      </programlisting>
+
+      This benefits evaluation performance, lets you write Nixpkgs packages that depend on NixOS images and is consistent with a deployment architecture that would be centered around Nixpkgs overlays.
     </para>
   </listitem>
 </itemizedlist>