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IMO the escape hatch doesn't get you any real benefits. It's not like you can install packages from apt/yum/aur so you don't get access to any new software (pl

IMO the escape hatch doesn't get you any real benefits. It's not like you can install packages from apt/yum/aur so you don't get access to any new software (plus nixpkgs is bigger than all those). All it does is result in confusing tutorials that hide the benefits of declarative management and make it difficult for new users who just want to get things working.

chriswarbo 5y ago
> It's not like you can install packages from apt/yum/aur Yes you can. Here's a Nix derivation which makes a Debian chroot and runs 'apt-get update; apt-get install -y chromium' https://github.com/Warbo/warbo-utilities/blob/7087c3b46a97f3fe0280cb0da74b265558856b14/scripts/in-chromium-env.nix https://github.com/Warbo/warbo-utilities/blob/7087c3b46a97f3... Here a Nix derivation for a helper script that runs the above chromium: https://github.com/Warbo/warbo-utilities/blob/7087c3b46a97f3fe0280cb0da74b265558856b14/scripts/chromium-launcher.nix https://github.com/Warbo/warbo-utilities/blob/7087c3b46a97f3... On a similar note, here's a Nix derivation for Mozilla's Firefox binary (in an FHS env), along with a warning if it's not the latest version: http://chriswarbo.net/git/warbo-packages/git/branches/master/packages/firefoxBinary.nix.raw.html http://chriswarbo.net/git/warbo-packages/git/branches/master... I wrote these once cache.nixos.org stopped providing "non-core" i686 binaries a few years ago, and I can't be bothered to build those large applications from source.
- mason55 5y ago
  Oh yeah, great point! I was thinking of installing packages from apt/yum/aur directly with something like nix-env, but you're right, there's no reason you can't just use apt-get directly.