0.15.0 Build error with Nix, and a test failure on latest `master`

[doronbehar]

Hello,

Recently on NixOS we encountered the following build error on our CI:

https://cache.nixos.org/log/mhksk5hxip92z7k523wkpfd73n690lgz-tectonic-0.15.0.drv

I suspected first it is related to icu 75->76 upgrade, but apparently it's not. I suspect it is related to GCC 14 upgrade. I don't experience this error when building against c2ae25ff1facd9e9cce31b48944b867773f709ec , but I experience a test failure:

tectonic> running 5 tests
tectonic> test errors::tests::test_def_same_option ... ok
tectonic> test errors::tests::test_def_same_box_err ... ok
tectonic> test errors::tests::test_def_same_err ... ok
tectonic> test io::memory::tests::shrinking_file ... ok
tectonic> test tests::no_segfault_after_failed_compilation ... FAILED
tectonic> failures:
tectonic> ---- tests::no_segfault_after_failed_compilation stdout ----
tectonic> thread 'tests::no_segfault_after_failed_compilation' panicked at /build/tectonic-0.15.0-unstable-2025-02-21-vendor/reqwest-0.12.12/src/blocking/client.rs:1047:38:
tectonic> Client::new(): reqwest::Error { kind: Builder, source: Normal(ErrorStack([])) }
tectonic> note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace
tectonic> failures:
tectonic>     tests::no_segfault_after_failed_compilation
tectonic> test result: FAILED. 4 passed; 1 failed; 0 ignored; 0 measured; 0 filtered out; finished in 0.01s
tectonic> error: test failed, to rerun pass `--lib

[bryango]

I think it may be hard to fix the build on Nix for the 0.15.0 release (also it seems it's only failing on linux with gcc, darwin builds are fine). Let's just switch to master. It seems to me that the failure here is because it tries to access the internet and fails to do so within the build sandbox as it returns reqwest::Error:

tectonic> thread 'tests::no_segfault_after_failed_compilation' panicked at /build/tectonic-0.15.0-unstable-2025-02-21-vendor/reqwest-0.12.12/src/blocking/client.rs:1047:38: tectonic> Client::new(): reqwest::Error { kind: Builder, source: Normal(ErrorStack([])) }

... but I don't understand why it didn't fail before...

Update: for nixpkgs we eventually decided to fix the 0.15.0 release and ignore the master failures for the moment until it is resolved upstream (i.e. here).

[GuillaumeDIDIER]

Any update ? This sort of build failure is problematic.

[doronbehar]

This was fixed on our end with:

• https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/392621

See https://nixpk.gs/pr-tracker.html?pr=392621 .

[HerrMuellerluedenscheid]

Having the issue on Apple silicon. How about creating a release?

[GuillaumeDIDIER]

I tested master, and it indeed solved things for me, so I second this question about making a new release (which hasn't happened in a year).

[doronbehar]

See also:

• https://github.com/tectonic-typesetting/tectonic/discussions/1122

[CraftSpider]

While I am a maintainer of tectonic, I unfortunately do not have the ability to cut a release. @pkgw will need to be the one to do so when he has time.

[ilyapopov]

The same problem started happening on upgrade to Ubuntu 25.04 (to be released on Apr 17).

Update Master branch works.

[adundovi]

Please make a new release because the 0.15 one does not compile any more on the current Fedora version (F42).

[CraftSpider]

I've been talking with pkgw, and with his help I should be able to make a release sometime in the next few weeks.

[CraftSpider]

Just to update on this, I'm currently working on changelogs and making sure minimal version requirements are correct.

[adundovi]

Any news on this issue? :-/

[CraftSpider]

Apologies, thanks for the patience. I had a major life event occur before I could finish, and that took priority. I am still working on this when I can, and will make the release as soon as I can.

[bryango]

Thank you for your work on tectonic! Please take your time! There is no need to hurry. For others wanting to build tectonic, just to summarize the thread there are currently these workarounds:

• The master branch builds and works fine, and there are github CI generated "Continuous Deployment" binaries under https://github.com/tectonic-typesetting/tectonic/releases for major platforms.
• If you want to stay on 0.15.0:
  • There are a set of patches that we apply in Nixpkgs to package tectonic; they are mostly cherry-picked from master, so feel free to borrow them: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/f51666be16d68c6a826f06de4124e87f88bfce30/pkgs/by-name/te/tectonic-unwrapped/package.nix#L43-L60
    • The patch that is related to the current issue is: https://github.com/tectonic-typesetting/tectonic/compare/19654bf152d602995da970f6164713953cffc2e6...6b49ca8db40aaca29cb375ce75add3e575558375
  • You can, of course, directly use the packaged tectonic from Nixpkgs (another "btw I use Nix" moment 😆