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Making a Nix package is usually quite fun, but if the software has a really gnarly setup (various forked dependencies, strange configuration scripts that involv
by mbrock 8y ago
Making a Nix package is usually quite fun, but if the software has a really gnarly setup (various forked dependencies, strange configuration scripts that involve the internet, npm modules with native library dependencies, etc) it can be bad.
For such cases I like Docker because it lets you easily create little mini-Ubuntus and do whatever you want there.
- kreetx 8y agoBut I think if you know nix well enough then making some strange setup work might end up a better long term solution that the ubuntu, no? I.e you put in the time upfront in researching how the thing wants it at build time, and then you have the infrastructure ready should the thing change its mind in future versions. Making it build in some less flexible context can become a lot more hackish down the line.
- joepie91_ 8y agoWhile true, the effort vs. payoff tradeoff doesn't always work out in favour of Nix there. That's largely due to lacking documentation, but I imagine there will always remain 'quick hacks' in use for things that don't need to work for an extended period of time, for example. That having been said, for anything that needs to work for a longer period of time, it's 100% worth taking apart the install process.