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I loathe to be so critical, but I have no idea what this is. I'm sorry to say but this is a bad article - either that - or nix itself is a mishmash of things i
by jariel 6y ago
I loathe to be so critical, but I have no idea what this is.
I'm sorry to say but this is a bad article - either that - or nix itself is a mishmash of things impossible to explain.
I just see red flags everywhere.
If it's 'A' - then maybe take some time to do a high-level introduction and some context.
- 'Everything depends on something else' - really? Most 'installed software' doesn't depend on a whole lot else. Does the author really mean server software? Development environment?
- "The easiest place to start is the Nix Store. Once you've installed Nix, you'll wind up with a directory at /nix/store,"
No! That's not easy, because what he&& is Nix, why and how would I install it, and what is the 'nix store'? Starting to explain something by introducing a whole bunch of other unknowns without description or context is going in the wrong direction.
- "This directory, /nix/store, is a kind of Graph Database. Each entry (each file or directory directly under /nix/store) is a Node in that Graph Database, and the relationships between them constitute Edges."
WHAT? We are now 3 layers deep in a rabbit hole of unexplained things.
- " Nix guarantees that the contents of a Node doesn't change after it's been created."
What is a Node?
If the issue is 'B' - i.e. the inherent overlap of technologies that Nix makes it hard to explain ... well maybe it could be broken up.
Take a minute to give some context for what Nix is, the kinds of people that use it, what problems it solves, and then have some exceedingly basic introductory examples so that people have a frame of reference for what you are talking about.
Then you can step by step, go into the weeds.
- tazjin 6y ago> Most 'installed software' doesn't depend on a whole lot else. Try this: Pick some random binaries on your system and run 'ldd' on them.
- yakshaving_jgt 6y ago> - 'Everything depends on something else' - really? Yes. Really. > Most 'installed software' doesn't depend on a whole lot else. Yes it does. Your ignorance of this fact does not make this any less a fact. > Does the author really mean server software? Development environment? All of it.
- jariel 6y agoI thought this was satire when I first read it. But no, people around are really do have serious challenges with language sometimes. Here's some help: The vast majority of software that users install on their computers depends only on what the user would perceive as the 'OS' itself. For example, if one were to install 'some app' that works for Mac OSX version X.X and later, there wouldn't be any contemplation of 'dependencies', to the point wherein the vast majority of users wouldn't even grasp the concept. Granular package or system-level dependencies are something that only developers are aware of. Of course, the fact that nobody but developers would contemplate 'dependencies' should be obvious to anyone who interacts with regular people.
- yakshaving_jgt 6y ago> the fact that nobody but developers would contemplate 'dependencies' should be obvious Is it perhaps lost on you that the vast majority of people discussing this technology are developers? And you accuse me of having serious challenges with language. Yikes. > The vast majority of software that users install on their computers depends only on what the user would perceive as the 'OS' itself Yes. And those dependencies are implicit. You know, exactly as the article describes. > to anyone who interacts with regular people This is a thinly-veiled ad-hominem argument. Does this approach of snootiness and condescension normally work for you when interacting with “regular people”?