# Help

**URL:** https://discourse.flox.dev/c/help/10.md?page=2

[Latest](https://discourse.flox.dev/latest.md) · [Categories](https://discourse.flox.dev/categories.md) · [Tags](https://discourse.flox.dev/tags.md)

**Page:** 3

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## [Confused by "Install with existing Nix installation" documentation](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/confused-by-install-with-existing-nix-installation-documentation/870)

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**Author:** [@Crafteo](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/Crafteo)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [March 29, 2024, 7:52pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/confused-by-install-with-existing-nix-installation-documentation/870 "2024-03-29T19:52:40Z")

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Hi there, I’m trying out Flox on my NixOS system (managed via plain configuration.nix). I was confused by the some Install doc section, stating: The Flox installer will perform some opinionated configuration of Nix, b…

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## [Dependencies in the OS but not in flox](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/dependencies-in-the-os-but-not-in-flox/862)

<div class="topic-metadata">

**Author:** [@adrianlzt](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/adrianlzt)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [March 28, 2024, 1:14pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/dependencies-in-the-os-but-not-in-flox/862 "2024-03-28T13:14:32Z")

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I’m developing a python app that uses an audio package which makes calls to ffmpeg. It was working ok in my computer as I had ffmpeg installed in the OS, but failed in another computer as I was missing it. The general …

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## [Building a production dockerfile](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/building-a-production-dockerfile/861)

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**Author:** [@adrianlzt](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/adrianlzt)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [March 26, 2024, 6:47pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/building-a-production-dockerfile/861 "2024-03-26T18:47:26Z")

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Hi there! I have just configured flox to develop a couple of projects I’m running on (python and node). Normally I use docker containers to deploy software, so I was thinking what will be the best way to have a docker …

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## [Best way to handle secrets](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/best-way-to-handle-secrets/863)

<div class="topic-metadata">

**Author:** [@adrianlzt](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/adrianlzt)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [March 26, 2024, 6:12pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/best-way-to-handle-secrets/863 "2024-03-26T18:12:18Z")

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Any best practices to handle “secrets” with flox? Currently I’m using also direnv to store then as env vars. Wondering if there is other options using just flox. I guess I can configure the environment to source that …

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## [Installing php with extensions?](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/installing-php-with-extensions/859)

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**Author:** [@svandragt](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/svandragt)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [March 25, 2024, 1:58pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/installing-php-with-extensions/859 "2024-03-25T13:58:16Z")

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Flox is super interesting! I’m new to both nix and flox and I’m trying to install php plus some extensions into my flox project, but the php81Extensions.yaml package doesn’t enable the php extension unlike others say php…

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## [Cache not working](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cache-not-working/854)

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**Author:** [@TuringTestTwister](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/TuringTestTwister)\
**Replies:** 6\
**Last updated:** [March 22, 2024, 4:21pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cache-not-working/854 "2024-03-22T16:21:09Z")

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I’ve added the following to my flake.nix: flox.url = "github:flox/flox"; flox.inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs"; and config: nix = { settings = { substituters = \[ "https://cache.flox.dev" …

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## [Flox-installed Go uses the global Go enviornment, is this expected?](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/flox-installed-go-uses-the-global-go-enviornment-is-this-expected/855)

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**Author:** [@christophberger](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/christophberger)\
**Replies:** 7\
**Last updated:** [March 22, 2024, 1:53pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/flox-installed-go-uses-the-global-go-enviornment-is-this-expected/855 "2024-03-22T13:53:44Z")

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I am not sure if I am doing something wrong, or if this is a bug, or if this is the way Flox works. I expected that packages installed inside a Flox environment would somehow be self-contained inside this environment. T…

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## [Pinned versions of package](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/pinned-versions-of-package/857)

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**Author:** [@jeff-hykin](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/jeff-hykin)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [March 21, 2024, 1:59pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/pinned-versions-of-package/857 "2024-03-21T13:59:44Z")

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Let’s say I found a really old version of NodeJS on nixpkgs and I have the pinned nixpkgs commit for it. Is there a way to include a package from that pinned nixpkg in a flox environment? Context: I’m coming from a nix …

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## [Question about flox pull -f](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/question-about-flox-pull-f/851)

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**Author:** [@etorreborre](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/etorreborre)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [March 20, 2024, 2:20pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/question-about-flox-pull-f/851 "2024-03-20T14:20:31Z")

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The help says: -f, --force Forceably pull the environment When pulling a new environment, adds the system to the manifest if the lockfile is incompatible and ignores eval and build errors. …

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## [Flox activate -r error](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/flox-activate-r-error/850)

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**Author:** [@etorreborre](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/etorreborre)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [March 20, 2024, 12:21pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/flox-activate-r-error/850 "2024-03-20T12:21:02Z")

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I am trying to use flox activate -r but I am getting an error: flox activate -r etorreborre/ockam …

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## [Beginner question: Flox and Fedora](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/beginner-question-flox-and-fedora/839)

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**Author:** [@lamyergeier](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/lamyergeier)\
**Replies:** 1\
**Last updated:** [March 14, 2024, 9:02pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/beginner-question-flox-and-fedora/839 "2024-03-14T21:02:52Z")

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I am not sure if Flox is only for NixOS, or it can be used on other Linux variants. I use Fedora 39 Desktop Version, and I use dnf, homebrew, flatpak. Is it possible (and/or recommended) to install on existing Fedora i…

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## [Setopt command not found](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/setopt-command-not-found/837)

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**Author:** [@etorreborre](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/etorreborre)\
**Replies:** 10\
**Last updated:** [March 14, 2024, 6:50pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/setopt-command-not-found/837 "2024-03-14T18:50:29Z")

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Hi there, I am having an issue after upgrading to 1.0.1. I edited one of my environments and when it activates again I get this message: /Users/etorreborre/.cache/flox/run/etorreborre/ockam.9c6cb2142223c368f7ae284619de…

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## [Tip for people using \`awscli2\`](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/tip-for-people-using-awscli2/834)

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**Author:** [@etorreborre](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/etorreborre)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [March 11, 2024, 10:37am UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/tip-for-people-using-awscli2/834 "2024-03-11T10:37:28Z")

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Hi, I’ve just hit an issue with awscli2: \> aws -v .... ImportError: cannot import name 'DEFAULT\_CIPHERS' from 'urllib3.util.ssl\_' The issue does not depend on flox and is documented for example here. There is a worka…

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## [Curl incompatibility](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/curl-incompatibility/833)

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**Author:** [@etorreborre](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/etorreborre)\
**Replies:** 9\
**Last updated:** [March 7, 2024, 6:33pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/curl-incompatibility/833 "2024-03-07T18:33:42Z")

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Hi, I don’t know if this is strictly a flox problem but I created an environment containing curl-8.4.0 and openssl-3.0.13. When I try to get something with curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSfL, I am getting an error (…

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## [Some notes for people migrating to flox 0.9.0](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/some-notes-for-people-migrating-to-flox-0-9-0/830)

<div class="topic-metadata">

**Author:** [@etorreborre](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/etorreborre)\
**Replies:** 5\
**Last updated:** [February 23, 2024, 3:12pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/some-notes-for-people-migrating-to-flox-0-9-0/830 "2024-02-23T15:12:34Z")

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Hi there, Here are some notes from my attempt to migrate from flox 0.3.6 to 0.9.0. After downloading and installing 0.9.0, I tried flox list: My first error was expected to be on the right side of–\`\` because I had f…

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## [Does it make sense that flox would take \>3 hours to load (just download and install) on MacOS?](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/does-it-make-sense-that-flox-would-take-3-hours-to-load-just-download-and-install-on-macos/826)

<div class="topic-metadata">

**Author:** [@n88888](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/n88888)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [February 21, 2024, 2:30pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/does-it-make-sense-that-flox-would-take-3-hours-to-load-just-download-and-install-on-macos/826 "2024-02-21T14:30:36Z")

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After some issues uninstalling Nix, I was finally able to download and start installing flox for MacOS (Intel processor). It has been running package scripts for over three hours. I was wondering if this is normal and ho…

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## [Installing flox via nix flake still shows 0.3.5-r660](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/installing-flox-via-nix-flake-still-shows-0-3-5-r660/829)

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**Author:** [@nickryand](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/nickryand)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [February 18, 2024, 7:06am UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/installing-flox-via-nix-flake-still-shows-0-3-5-r660/829 "2024-02-18T07:06:19Z")

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Hello, I’m trying to give flox a shot. I have a nix install already in place so I was working through the nix install method. It looks like this method is still installing an older version of flox. Is 0.9.0 going to be …

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## [Is ssh github to flox/flox hardcoded value?](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/is-ssh-github-to-flox-flox-hardcoded-value/818)

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**Author:** [@anon59756714](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/anon59756714)\
**Replies:** 5\
**Last updated:** [November 2, 2023, 11:46am UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/is-ssh-github-to-flox-flox-hardcoded-value/818 "2023-11-02T11:46:52Z")

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It seems after the upgrade to newest version, my flox broke with requirement for ssh key to flox/flox.

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## [Init failed: ERROR: \`--template\` is not expected in this context](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/init-failed-error-template-is-not-expected-in-this-context/812)

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**Author:** [@theowenyoung](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/theowenyoung)\
**Replies:** 5\
**Last updated:** [October 16, 2023, 11:39am UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/init-failed-error-template-is-not-expected-in-this-context/812 "2023-10-16T11:39:18Z")

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Hi, I’m really like the concept of flox, and I wonder why flox doesn’t gain more traction, in my opinion he very much deserves to be known to more people. Thank you so much for all this work! Today is my first day of f…

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## [Publishing a package](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/publishing-a-package/799)

<div class="topic-metadata">

**Author:** [@etorreborre](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/etorreborre)\
**Replies:** 13\
**Last updated:** [October 2, 2023, 5:10pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/publishing-a-package/799 "2023-10-02T17:10:55Z")

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Hi, I was trying to publish a package with a recent version of flox. I can see that publish is still considered experimental but I am lacking a bit of information from the documentation. flox publish requires a cache …

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## [Why flox history no longer shows upgraded packages?](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/why-flox-history-no-longer-shows-upgraded-packages/788)

<div class="topic-metadata">

**Author:** [@anon59756714](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/anon59756714)\
**Replies:** 8\
**Last updated:** [September 5, 2023, 11:07pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/why-flox-history-no-longer-shows-upgraded-packages/788 "2023-09-05T23:07:42Z")

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It just shows that everything went from null to some version Tue Aug 29 15:22:58 2023 +0200 myman upgraded stable.nixpkgs-flox.age stable.nixpkgs-flox.antigen.2\_2\_3 stable.nixpkgs-flox.awscli2 stable.nixpkgs-flox.dig st…

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## [\_FLOX\_PUBLIC\_KEYS() documented on Nix/Nixos tab of https://floxdev.com/docs/install-flox/](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/flox-public-keys-documented-on-nix-nixos-tab-of-https-floxdev-com-docs-install-flox/779)

<div class="topic-metadata">

**Author:** [@slimslenderslacks](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/slimslenderslacks)\
**Replies:** 4\
**Last updated:** [August 10, 2023, 1:03pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/flox-public-keys-documented-on-nix-nixos-tab-of-https-floxdev-com-docs-install-flox/779 "2023-08-10T13:03:23Z")

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Is this a doc generation bug? That should look something like what’s shown in the Nix/Generic tab right? Something like flox-store-public-0:8c/B+kjIaQ+BloCmNkRUKwaVPFWkriSAd0JJvuDu4F0=

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## [Has anyone tried to install docker using flox?](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/has-anyone-tried-to-install-docker-using-flox/697)

<div class="topic-metadata">

**Author:** [@etorreborre](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/etorreborre)\
**Replies:** 6\
**Last updated:** [March 22, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/has-anyone-tried-to-install-docker-using-flox/697 "2023-03-22T22:16:12Z")

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I just tried to install docker + docker-machine using flox but then got stuck at finding a working driver for MacOS M1. So I resorted to an installer on the Docker website. Has anyone attempted a flox-only install? How …

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## [Questions around using this with python & packages](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/questions-around-using-this-with-python-packages/665)

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**Author:** [@brokentail](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/brokentail)\
**Replies:** 18\
**Last updated:** [July 19, 2023, 5:31pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/questions-around-using-this-with-python-packages/665 "2023-07-19T17:31:30Z")

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Hi there! I’ve been messing around with flox some at home and at work and I’m really liking what I see. For context I work at a startup that is hiring a few junior data engineers/analysts and I want to use this tool to …

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## [Glances package outdated and python311Packages.glances-api missing](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/glances-package-outdated-and-python311packages-glances-api-missing/761)

<div class="topic-metadata">

**Author:** [@alexdelprete](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/alexdelprete)\
**Replies:** 8\
**Last updated:** [July 11, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/glances-package-outdated-and-python311packages-glances-api-missing/761 "2023-07-11T21:39:58Z")

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Hi, as per subject, the unstable.glances packages is v3.3.1 while the latest I find on nix is v3.4.0.2. Also, I can’t find the unstable.python311Packages.glances-api package, available on nix. This is happening on sev…

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## [Can't find pnpm with flox search](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cant-find-pnpm-with-flox-search/766)

<div class="topic-metadata">

**Author:** [@etorreborre](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/etorreborre)\
**Replies:** 7\
**Last updated:** [July 7, 2023, 4:03am UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/cant-find-pnpm-with-flox-search/766 "2023-07-07T04:03:13Z")

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Hi, I am trying to install pnpm with flox. While the package is available within the nix search, it does not appear in a flox search: NixOS Search. How can I install it? Thank you.

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## [How can I push more dotfiles content with flox?](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/how-can-i-push-more-dotfiles-content-with-flox/762)

<div class="topic-metadata">

**Author:** [@etorreborre](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/etorreborre)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [July 5, 2023, 10:00pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/how-can-i-push-more-dotfiles-content-with-flox/762 "2023-07-05T22:00:45Z")

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Hi, I followed the steps in this blog post. When I push the dotfiles environment I am only pushing a flox.nix file. However a big part of my zsh configuration, starting with the .zshrc file is still inside the ~/.dotfi…

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## [Does Flox allow for using multiple arbitrary independent package versions while not introducing the need to download a separate version of nixpkgs for each package?](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/does-flox-allow-for-using-multiple-arbitrary-independent-package-versions-while-not-introducing-the-need-to-download-a-separate-version-of-nixpkgs-for-each-package/737)

<div class="topic-metadata">

**Author:** [@hab25](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/hab25)\
**Replies:** 2\
**Last updated:** [May 1, 2023, 7:51pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/does-flox-allow-for-using-multiple-arbitrary-independent-package-versions-while-not-introducing-the-need-to-download-a-separate-version-of-nixpkgs-for-each-package/737 "2023-05-01T19:51:38Z")

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I saw that Flox offers multiple versions of the same package, so I’m wondering: can it solve the problem described in Question about using multiple nixpkgs pinned versions in automation and consequent bloat - Help - NixO…

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## [Install python package with optional dependencies](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/install-python-package-with-optional-dependencies/729)

<div class="topic-metadata">

**Author:** [@fleimgruber](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/fleimgruber)\
**Replies:** 7\
**Last updated:** [April 20, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/install-python-package-with-optional-dependencies/729 "2023-04-20T15:04:27Z")

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How to install a Python package with optional dependencies? I.e. with pip I would do pip install httpx\[cli\] but how to do that with flox? Running flox install nixpkgs#python310Packages.httpx does not install the optional…

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## [Install R with packages](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/install-r-with-packages/726)

<div class="topic-metadata">

**Author:** [@jganong](https://discourse.flox.dev/u/jganong)\
**Replies:** 3\
**Last updated:** [April 18, 2023, 9:09pm UTC](https://discourse.flox.dev/t/install-r-with-packages/726 "2023-04-18T21:09:21Z")

</div>

I want to install R with the RPostgreSQL CRAN package, which also needs the postgresql package installed to provide the library libpq. I found a way to do it that works, but it with incosistencies. mkdir R\_with\_packag…

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