4 ms·

I wouldn’t take this one blog post as gospel about how to use Nix. I’m not denying that it’s complicated, but doing declarative package management is not the o

by ratorx 4y ago

I wouldn’t take this one blog post as gospel about how to use Nix. I’m not denying that it’s complicated, but doing declarative package management is not the only way to dip your toes into Nix. You can use it pretty much as a conventional package manager with none of the upsides of declarative package management (but none of the complexity either). On the surface level for people migrating from existing package managers, nix-env is approximately as complicated as something like pacman. You just need the command for installing, removing and updating (well, the 2 commands for updating, but that’s the only extra complexity).

baby 4y ago
People say that but yet nobody linked to a post explaining the “right way” of using nix on macOS
- ratorx 4y ago
  Here is the official manual page for Basic Package Management. No blog post necessary. This covers the majority of it, but I’d say if you read the entire section on Package Management, then you’ll get an idea of how it works and be able to install, update and uninstall things (as well as a bit more). https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/package-management/basic-package-mgmt.html https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/package-management/basic... Also, there is no “right way”. What I suggested was the way to get parity with standard package managers. There are many different ways to use it, because it is a very flexible tool. There’s no reason to learn every single one to get started with it.
  - omginternets 4y ago
    This doesn’t tell us how to install it, which is what we’re griping about.
    - ratorx 4y ago
      https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/installation/installing-binary.html https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/installation/installing-... This worked for me. I think MacOS installation was a bit hands on due to Mac weirdness (when I did it ~2 years ago), but I think it is better now.
      - omginternets 4y ago
        Yes, this is what I tried too. What you describe as “hands on” is precisely what my original complaint is about. It was even more difficult (impossible?) for me due to the case-sensitive FS setting being enabled on my Mac. Everything about first contact with Nix is off putting. I really wish it weren’t so :/
omginternets 4y ago
So what’s the simplest way to start using nix on macOS? Again, I am convinced Nix is a superior way to write software, and I would love nothing more than to have a working installation in a few minutes.

by ratorx 4y ago

baby 4y ago

People say that but yet nobody linked to a post explaining the “right way” of using nix on macOS

ratorx 4y ago
Here is the official manual page for Basic Package Management. No blog post necessary. This covers the majority of it, but I’d say if you read the entire section on Package Management, then you’ll get an idea of how it works and be able to install, update and uninstall things (as well as a bit more). https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/package-management/basic-package-mgmt.html https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/package-management/basic... Also, there is no “right way”. What I suggested was the way to get parity with standard package managers. There are many different ways to use it, because it is a very flexible tool. There’s no reason to learn every single one to get started with it.
- omginternets 4y ago
  This doesn’t tell us how to install it, which is what we’re griping about.
  - ratorx 4y ago
    https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/installation/installing-binary.html https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/installation/installing-... This worked for me. I think MacOS installation was a bit hands on due to Mac weirdness (when I did it ~2 years ago), but I think it is better now.
    - omginternets 4y ago
      Yes, this is what I tried too. What you describe as “hands on” is precisely what my original complaint is about. It was even more difficult (impossible?) for me due to the case-sensitive FS setting being enabled on my Mac. Everything about first contact with Nix is off putting. I really wish it weren’t so :/

omginternets 4y ago

So what’s the simplest way to start using nix on macOS? Again, I am convinced Nix is a superior way to write software, and I would love nothing more than to have a working installation in a few minutes.