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SolalPirelli merged 2 commits into from
Mar 2, 2026
Merged

add warning about docker and mention nix/guix #157

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add warning about docker and mention nix/guix
GuilloteauQ Mar 1, 2026
7ff04c7
Fix Markdown
SolalPirelli Mar 2, 2026
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6 changes: 6 additions & 0 deletions packaging-guide.md
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Expand Up @@ -35,6 +35,11 @@ Consider one of the following methods to package the software components of thei
- For raw data, the container/VM contains the data and the analysis scripts.
- For mechanized proofs, the container/VM contains the right version of the relevant theorem prover
- For a mobile phone application, the VM has a phone emulator installed

Note however that container and virtual machine recipes (such as Dockerfile) might not be by default reproducible.
In the case of Docker, pay attention to use a tag when using another image (and not the `latest` one) but also be aware that [images can be removed from caches](https://hub.docker.com/r/nvidia/cuda/#cuda-container-support-policy), know that `apt-get update` might yield different package versions every time it is being called.
One practice is to archive the produced container or VM on long-term storage such as Zenodo, but this is not a substitute to sharing the recipe.
For producing containers or VMs with more reproducibility guarantees, you can take a look at [Nix](https://nixos.org) or [Guix](https://guix.gnu.org/).
- **Live instance on the web:**
This can be a companion to source code as a way to make usage easier, or a replacement for source code for artifacts that cannot be made public.
It can be a custom site or use public clouds such as the ones mentioned in "tools" below.
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -73,6 +78,7 @@ The following tools are commonly used in artifact packaging and distribution:
- [GitHub](https://github.com) and [GitLab](https://gitlab.com), good options to host a Git repository for your artifact during evaluation, since they allow you to easily push updates in response to reviewer concerns
- [Zenodo](https://zenodo.org), to provide long-term storage and a DOI, ensuring the final version of your artifact can be archived permanently
- [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/get-started/overview/), to create a lightweight container with all of your artifact's dependencies, and even write scripts to manage multiple containers locally instead of using a cloud provider
- [Nix](https://nixos.org/) or [Guix](https://guix.gnu.org/), to create reproducible software environments, containers, virtual machines and system images.

Other useful tools include:
- [Popper](https://getpopper.io/), a container-native system for automating workflows
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