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-rw-r--r--README.md30
1 files changed, 16 insertions, 14 deletions
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a190cef..2f12e25 100644
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+++ b/README.md
@@ -788,8 +788,8 @@ future.
built or the versions of their dependencies (which is not good). As in
[zenodo.1164774](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1164774) or
[zenodo.1163746](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1163746), the best we
- can do is distribute the tarballs of the necessary software. The
- solution here is based on [an interesting
+ can currently do is distribute the tarballs of the necessary
+ software. The solution here is based on [an interesting
tutorial](https://mozillafoundation.github.io/2017-fellows-sf/re-papers/index.html)
by the Mozilla science lab to build reproducible papers. It suggests
using the [Nix package manager](https://nixos.org/nix/about.html) to
@@ -800,19 +800,21 @@ future.
language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheme_(programming_language)),
not a custom language for the management) will allow a fully working
closed environment on the host system which contains the instructions
- on how to build the environment. It also allows separate versions of a
- software to co-exist, so it is not necessary to change important
- programs (that have been updated for example) to run a particular
- reproduction pipeline. The fact that with Nix or Guix, the instructions
- to build the dependencies is also inherently included, makes them a
- much better solution than binary containers like
- [docker](https://www.docker.com/) which are essentially just a black
- box and only usable on the given CPU architecture. The initial running
- of Nix or Guix and setting up the environment can also be included in a
- `Makefile` of this pipeline to be fully automatic. The software
+ on how to build the environment. These package managers can also
+ co-exist with the package manager of the host's operating system and
+ they allow separate versions of a software to be present. Thus it is
+ not necessary to change existing programs on the host system (that have
+ been updated for example) to run a particular reproduction
+ pipeline. The availability of the instructions to build the programs
+ and environment with Nix or Guix, makes them a better solution than
+ binary containers like [docker](https://www.docker.com/) which are
+ essentially just a binary (not human readable) black box and only
+ usable on the given CPU architecture. The initial running of Nix or
+ Guix and setting up of the environment can also be included in a
+ `Makefile` of this pipeline, and thus be fully automatic. The software
tarballs (to be used by Nix or Guix) can also be uploaded/archived, as
- we do now, and they can be instructed to get the tarballs for building
- the environment from there.
+ we do now. These package managers can then be instructed to get the
+ tarballs for building the environment from there.