test executables with timeout?

[FRidh]

Often we do not know whether an executable functions. We could run it in the checkPhase, but it needs to terminate as well.

Maybe we should test executables by running them briefly with timeout. This would especially be helpful to detect run-time issues with applications that use a search path for dependencies, such as Qt or Python. It could be implemented as a hook and feature an includeList or excludeList for specific executables in a derivation.

cc @doronbehar @ttuegel

[davidak]

We have a way to test packages, but it is not documented. See #73076 (comment)

See this example https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/75117/files

[FRidh]

I am aware of that and this is not what I am describing here. I suggest having a hook where you can simply list executables to be tried.

[stale]

I marked this as stale due to inactivity. → More info