Hi everyone!

I saw that NixOS is getting popularity recently. I really have no idea why and how this OS works. Can you guys help me understanding all of this ?

Thanks !

  • datendefekt
    4•2 years ago

    Glancing over the website, I thought it’s an immutable OS, like Fedora Silverblue. I could imagine that it might be cool to use with Ansible and stuff. But for an average user? I can’t really see the advantages in respect to the work you have to put in.

    • @[email protected]
      3•2 years ago

      NixOS is not immutable in the way Fodora Silverblue is, and way more declarative and reproducible than Ansible. But yeah it is not something you “need”. Other distros work too, but NixOS is way more fun.

    • @[email protected]
      2•2 years ago

      It is an immutable distro, altough it isn’t image-based like Fedora’s rpm-ostree.

      NixOS basically replaces Ansible because the Nix package manager achieves the same goals already (configuration, deployment, …).

      But I agree, the work necessary to put into this non-standard distro makes it hard to recommend for a casual user.

    • @ItsYourBoyHalo
      1•2 years ago

      I mostly agree. I have been using NixOS for quite some time now. I am a home user with some Linux knowledge :)

    • @[email protected]
      1•2 years ago

      Same. If I wanted to set up multiple PCs at once, I would definitely consider it, but for my workstation? I’d rather have the newer packages offered by the Arch repos. Even with that said, you can use KDE’s apper to quickly install a bunch of packages.