Repository navigation
Running nix-shell -p causes locale-related error #16687
Description
Describe the bug
When I run nix-shell -p with any package, I get the following message: "bash: export: RANLİB=ranlib': geçerli bir tanımlayıcı değil". This is very likely to be specific for my locale, which is Turkish. It gets solved only when I run with LC_ALL=C.
Steps To Reproduce
- Set your locale to Turkish
- Run
nix-shell -pwith any package you want - Get the error
Expected behavior
I expected it to run without any environmental variable required.
Metadata
nix-env (Nix) 2.34.8
Activity
Filippo-Galli commentedon Oct 30, 2026
Hi! The root cause of this issue actually lives in Nixpkgs rather than the Nix CLI itself (
pkgs/build-support/bintools-wrapper/setup-hook.sh).What is happening:
nix-shell -pruns an impure shell by default, which inherits your terminal's locale (tr_TR.UTF-8).nix-shellsources$stdenv/setup, which in turn executes the setup hook forbintools-wrapper.ranlibare converted to uppercase to export variables (RANLIB=ranlib).iis uppercased toİ(dotted capitalİ, U+0130). This turnsranlibintoRANLİB.RANLİBas an invalid identifier (geçerli bir tanımlayıcı değil).I have opened a PR in Nixpkgs with an improved fix that makes these tool variable exports completely locale-independent: NixOS/nixpkgs#581050
In the meantime, running with
LC_ALL=C nix-shell -p ...remains the best workaround until the fix reaches your channel.