From 62f1f5900df5f761c01141323c2c2115d68f9541 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: sneak <sneak@sneak.berlin>
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2026 20:33:28 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] make build-bin: binary uses the system loader on Linux
 (closes #240)

nix's bun loads through a glibc in the nix store, and bun build --compile
copied that loader into ~/bin/quak, so nix-collect-garbage could break the
cron backup. On Linux x86-64 the build now passes
--target=bun-linux-x64-baseline, which makes bun use its downloaded release
build with the system loader. Other Linux architectures are refused, since
the fix is untested there; macOS is unchanged.

Model: opus-5-5
---
 Makefile  | 14 +++++++++++++-
 README.md |  8 ++++++--
 2 files changed, 19 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a71e286..46f2dad 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -28,8 +28,20 @@ build:
 
 # Bundles the built dist/, so the binary reports the version script/build
 # stamped.
+#
+# On Linux, nix's bun loads through a C library in the nix store, and a binary
+# bun compiles from itself keeps that loader. nix-collect-garbage can delete
+# that C library, and the binary then no longer starts.
+# A --target other than the host's makes bun use its downloaded release build,
+# which loads through the system's C library. That is tested only on x86-64,
+# with the baseline build, so other Linux machines are refused.
 build-bin: build
-	nix-shell -p bun --run "bun build dist/bin/quak.js --compile --outfile bin/quak"
+	case "$$(uname -s)-$$(uname -m)" in \
+	    Linux-x86_64) target=--target=bun-linux-x64-baseline ;; \
+	    Linux-*) echo "make build-bin: on Linux only x86-64 is supported" >&2; exit 1 ;; \
+	    *) target= ;; \
+	esac; \
+	nix-shell -p bun --run "bun build dist/bin/quak.js --compile $$target --outfile bin/quak"
 
 install: build-bin
 	mkdir -p ~/bin
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3db31da..def85e0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -138,7 +138,10 @@ requests. The "Library reference" below covers both.
 one binary and copies it to `~/bin/quak`. Besides what Getting Started needs,
 `make install` needs `make` and [nix](https://nixos.org/download). It uses bun,
 a JavaScript runtime, to bundle the built `dist/` into one executable. It runs
-bun through `nix-shell -p bun`.
+bun through `nix-shell -p bun`. On Linux it works on x86-64 only. There, the
+binary is built from bun's own release build rather than nix's bun, so it does
+not need the nix store. The first build downloads that release build into
+`~/.bun`.
 
 Log in once with `~/bin/quak`, as the user the cron job will run as:
 
@@ -1910,7 +1913,8 @@ These apply to people and to coding agents alike.
       `bin/clip-keyword-vectors` installs, by SHA-256 hash;
     - Node and yarn, when `script/bootstrap` installs them, by version.
 - Not pinned:
-    - bun, which `make build-bin` takes from `nix-shell -p bun`;
+    - bun, which `make build-bin` takes from `nix-shell -p bun`, and on Linux
+      the release build of the same bun version that it downloads;
     - `make` and `git`, which `script/bootstrap` installs from the system
       package manager when they are missing, as every `Dockerfile` stage does;
     - `bash` and `curl`, which `script/bootstrap` installs the same way when it