Zig: Package Management Logic Moved from Compiler to Build System

Andrew Kelley announced a major architectural change to the Zig toolchain: all package management logic has been moved from the compiler executable into the maker process, which is part of the build system. Commands affected include zig build, zig fetch, zig init, and zig libc. The relocated functionality includes HTTP networking, TLS and associated cryptography, Git protocol support, and archive format handling (xz, gzip, zstd, flate, zip), as well as build.zig.zon file parsing. Because this code now ships in source form rather than compiled into the compiler binary, it can be patched without recompiling the compiler itself. The maker process runs in ReleaseSafe mode, enabling safety checks during networking, and can exploit host-specific CPU instructions for crypto operations. The process tree was reorganized so that maker is now the parent of configurer (the user's build.zig logic), rather than a sibling. This allows long-running zig build --watch sessions to rerun configuration without restarting the maker process, and avoids reconnection issues in the planned build server protocol. The compiler binary shrank 4% from 14.1 to 13.5 MiB. Two flags changed: --maker-opt becomes ZIG_DEBUG_MAKER and --zig-lib-dir becomes ZIG_LIB_DIR. Remaining blockers for Zig 0.17.0 include a build server protocol MVP needed to unblock ZLS, path dependency support for build scripts, and watch-mode improvements. Kelley noted he has conferences in July and expects to address these items in early August.