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choobacker

I'm a NixOS user and contributor.

This post is fair.

Nix is very flexible, and it hasn't yet stabilised on a firm set of recommendations for a happy path.

Going on a whim:

* Use nixos-unstable. It's defacto stable, and gets much more attention than nixos-stable.

* Use flakes.

* Don't use multiple versions of nixpkgs. In the rare case a package is failing to build, then raise an issue, or wait, or rollback.

* On NixOS, don't use user profiles. They won't interop in the way OP hopes.

* Only use nixpkgs. If you absolutely must use another flake, only use popular ones from https://github.com/nix-community.

But until the community give opinionated suggestions, users will stray towards bad practices.

(Also, no need to mix pipewire and jack. Pipewire can emulate jack.)

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This sounds like a great idea! How do I do it? (The unstable stuff and using modern techniques? How do I even know what's modern?)

I currently have a spare laptop lying around. I popped in the latest NixOS ISO and just gave it a spin. Some things I noticed:

- The installer only allows to install on ext4 unless you manually partition the disk? I thought it was 2025, not 2005.

- Is there no way to search for packages without a browser?

- I found boot.grub.* and boot.systemd-boot.* - what if I want to use refind? What about Limine?

- How do I know if any given program goes into programs.programname.enable = true or into environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [ programname ]?

- Why is the ISO furnishing me with a configuration.nix when everyone says to use flakes instead of that? How do I switch?

I'd preferably be able to answer those questions without reading a 300 page handbook. I've been using a lot of Linux distros over the last 30 years and the above questions have usually bean answerable on a headless system with the supplied documentation. I understand that Nix is a paradigm shift compared to "classic" distros, but that only puts the onus more in Nix to be discoverable.

I attended NixconfNA last year as part of SCaLE.

I spent quite a while trying to understand what Nix was actually trying to accomplish and how one would actually go about using it. Granted I was trying to do it on a Chromebook, but the idea stands: I should be able to get at least the nix environment set up and the silly gnu hello world built and running, right?

Turns out nah. The ergonomics are just that of a hiltless double bladed sword.

I'm glad I'm not the only one, but i also was aware of pushcx trying years ago and still failing [1] and he's a smart dude unlike me. I didn't feel so dumb.

[1] https://push.cx/nixos

Yes, the ergonomics are poor. I endure them for the results, but the ergonomics should be better.

Guix has better ergonomics, but it's own set of downsides.

I expect the underlying idea of holistic declarative systems is sound, and we're awaiting a polished alternative. Maybe it'll reuse nixpkgs under the hood , but replace the name, the tooling, and the language exposed to the user.

I honestly wish PKGBUILD would get a shout at some point in the world of "Not the worst way to describe a package"

Yeah, cloud installation is a bit tricky: https://mrbluecoat.blogspot.com/2024/12/nixos-in-cloud.html

https://netboot.xyz/ is probably the easiest way if your cloud provider supports it.

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