2 ms·

> Then there's the whole promise of it being usable from multiple platforms ("you don't even have to use NixOS, just use the package manager for awesome builds"

by ymse 8y ago

> Then there's the whole promise of it being usable from multiple platforms ("you don't even have to use NixOS, just use the package manager for awesome builds") -- It was supposedly amazing for building some software packages, but the reality was always so sticky and never quite panned out. The vast majority of Guix users are on other (so-called "foreign") distributions (i.e. not GuixSD) -- I think the opposite is true for Nix/NixOS. I'm not sure what's "sticky" about it, can you elaborate?

hardwaresofton 8y ago
I meant "sticky" in that when I tried to evaluate NixOS vs CoreOS Container Linux + Ignition (this was a while ago), nix was much harder to install and use than suggested. I ended up going with Container Linux for that very reason and didn't look back. There was also an issue with nix and docker compatibility that I ran into w/ nix-docker[0], but I don't remember what it was. Here are some videos I found in my history back when I was exploring Nix (watched in end of 2017/early 2018 I believe): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbUPdv03ciI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbUPdv03ciI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIxtBVKo7JE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIxtBVKo7JE It's entirely possible my anecdata is too old to be useful. Maybe nix is much easier to use (and use correctly) these days. One example of where Nix should have been able to pick up mindshare is with the same people who value linuxkit[1]. Maybe this is is another marketing/branding/hype/money disparity thing but `nix-build '<something>' -A vm` looks like exactly what linuxkit is being lauded/promoted for being a good tool for, and it's been around for so much longer. [0]: https://github.com/zefhemel/nix-docker https://github.com/zefhemel/nix-docker [1]: https://github.com/linuxkit/linuxkit https://github.com/linuxkit/linuxkit
- ymse 8y ago
  I can't speak for Nix, but getting Guix up and running on your favourite distribution can be achieved with this two-liner: wget https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/guix.git/plain/etc/guix-install.sh sudo bash guix-install.sh

by ymse 8y ago

hardwaresofton 8y ago

I meant "sticky" in that when I tried to evaluate NixOS vs CoreOS Container Linux + Ignition (this was a while ago), nix was much harder to install and use than suggested. I ended up going with Container Linux for that very reason and didn't look back. There was also an issue with nix and docker compatibility that I ran into w/ nix-docker[0], but I don't remember what it was. Here are some videos I found in my history back when I was exploring Nix (watched in end of 2017/early 2018 I believe): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbUPdv03ciI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbUPdv03ciI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIxtBVKo7JE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIxtBVKo7JE It's entirely possible my anecdata is too old to be useful. Maybe nix is much easier to use (and use correctly) these days. One example of where Nix should have been able to pick up mindshare is with the same people who value linuxkit[1]. Maybe this is is another marketing/branding/hype/money disparity thing but `nix-build '<something>' -A vm` looks like exactly what linuxkit is being lauded/promoted for being a good tool for, and it's been around for so much longer. [0]: https://github.com/zefhemel/nix-docker https://github.com/zefhemel/nix-docker [1]: https://github.com/linuxkit/linuxkit https://github.com/linuxkit/linuxkit

ymse 8y ago
I can't speak for Nix, but getting Guix up and running on your favourite distribution can be achieved with this two-liner: wget https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/guix.git/plain/etc/guix-install.sh sudo bash guix-install.sh