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I tried nix on Ubuntu recently so that I could get an up-to-date, non-snap emacs (if you already think emacs is slow to load, you should see it as a snap), and

I tried nix on Ubuntu recently so that I could get an up-to-date, non-snap emacs (if you already think emacs is slow to load, you should see it as a snap), and the resulting build was giving me all kinds of issues, even with just the vanilla config. I tried one other package and had issues there as well. I ended up just compiling both from source and they worked perfectly. Is there anything special about getting nix working well with other package managers? I'll be honest, the main thing keeping me from digging into it further are the docs and the syntax. I can never tell if I'm reading about nix-the-package-manager, nix-the-language, or nix-the-operating-system; and looking at the syntax makes me understand what most programmers feel when they look at lisp.

psanford 6y ago
Yeah the syntax is intimidating. Its definitely one of those things where its easier to start off by copying examples and then slowly learn all the details. After using it for a while it mostly starts to feel like a slightly different JSON syntax (there are a few exceptions to this but you don't end up needing that for most of what you do). Sorry to hear you had issues on ubuntu. Its hard to say how you might improve your experience without knowing more details. The nix forum is probably a good place to get support for that sort of thing.
- narwally 6y ago
  I'm sure I could track down the issue, I just didn't have the time. I was just hoping to use it to install a more up-to-date package here and there just to dip my toes in the water and go from there. I really like the idea behind it, and hope it or something similar catches on. I may just have to throw myself into the deep end and try NixOS out in a vm.
  - lightbulbjim 6y ago
    Yeah, you kinda have to drink the whole koolaid before it clicks. It’s great when it does though. It only clicked for me when I started using NixOS (on my primary laptop in my case) rather than just Nix.

psanford 6y ago

Yeah the syntax is intimidating. Its definitely one of those things where its easier to start off by copying examples and then slowly learn all the details. After using it for a while it mostly starts to feel like a slightly different JSON syntax (there are a few exceptions to this but you don't end up needing that for most of what you do). Sorry to hear you had issues on ubuntu. Its hard to say how you might improve your experience without knowing more details. The nix forum is probably a good place to get support for that sort of thing.

narwally 6y ago
I'm sure I could track down the issue, I just didn't have the time. I was just hoping to use it to install a more up-to-date package here and there just to dip my toes in the water and go from there. I really like the idea behind it, and hope it or something similar catches on. I may just have to throw myself into the deep end and try NixOS out in a vm.
- lightbulbjim 6y ago
  Yeah, you kinda have to drink the whole koolaid before it clicks. It’s great when it does though. It only clicked for me when I started using NixOS (on my primary laptop in my case) rather than just Nix.