Document small channels

1 files changed, 28 insertions, 8 deletions

diff --git a/nixos/doc/manual/installation/upgrading.xml b/nixos/doc/manual/installation/upgrading.xml
index 46d3af56b570..5a9d1f24f7c7 100644
--- a/nixos/doc/manual/installation/upgrading.xml
+++ b/nixos/doc/manual/installation/upgrading.xml
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ been built.  These channels are:
 
 <itemizedlist>
   <listitem>
-    <para>Stable channels, such as <literal
-    xlink:href="https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-14.04">nixos-14.04</literal>.
+    <para><emphasis>Stable channels</emphasis>, such as <literal
+    xlink:href="https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-14.12">nixos-14.12</literal>.
     These only get conservative bug fixes and package upgrades.  For
     instance, a channel update may cause the Linux kernel on your
     system to be upgraded from 3.4.66 to 3.4.67 (a minor bug fix), but
@@ -23,14 +23,28 @@ been built.  These channels are:
     3.11.<replaceable>x</replaceable> (a major change that has the
     potential to break things).  Stable channels are generally
     maintained until the next stable branch is created.</para>
+    <para></para>
   </listitem>
   <listitem>
-    <para>The unstable channel, <literal
+    <para>The <emphasis>unstable channel</emphasis>, <literal
     xlink:href="https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-unstable">nixos-unstable</literal>.
     This corresponds to NixOS’s main development branch, and may thus
     see radical changes between channel updates.  It’s not recommended
     for production systems.</para>
   </listitem>
+  <listitem>
+    <para><emphasis>Small channels</emphasis>, such as <literal
+    xlink:href="https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-14.12-small">nixos-14.12-small</literal>
+    or <literal
+    xlink:href="https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-unstable-small">nixos-unstable-small</literal>. These
+    are identical to the stable and unstable channels described above,
+    except that they contain fewer binary packages. This means they
+    get updated faster than the regular channels (for instance, when a
+    critical security patch is committed to NixOS’s source tree), but
+    may require more packages to be built from source than
+    usual. They’re mostly intended for server environments and as such
+    contain few GUI applications.</para>
+  </listitem>
 </itemizedlist>
 
 To see what channels are available, go to <link
@@ -41,8 +55,8 @@ appliances.)</para>
 
 <para>When you first install NixOS, you’re automatically subscribed to
 the NixOS channel that corresponds to your installation source.   For
-instance, if you installed from a 14.04 ISO, you will be subscribed to
-the <literal>nixos-14.04</literal> channel.  To see which NixOS
+instance, if you installed from a 14.12 ISO, you will be subscribed to
+the <literal>nixos-14.12</literal> channel.  To see which NixOS
 channel you’re subscribed to, run the following as root:
 
 <screen>
@@ -57,13 +71,19 @@ $ nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/<replaceable>channel-name</replac
 </screen>
 
 (Be sure to include the <literal>nixos</literal> parameter at the
-end.)  For instance, to use the NixOS 14.04 stable channel:
+end.)  For instance, to use the NixOS 14.12 stable channel:
+
+<screen>
+$ nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-14.12 nixos
+</screen>
+
+If you have a server, you may want to use the “small” channel instead:
 
 <screen>
-$ nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-14.04 nixos
+$ nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-14.12-small nixos
 </screen>
 
-But if you want to live on the bleeding edge:
+And if you want to live on the bleeding edge:
 
 <screen>
 $ nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-unstable nixos