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If you want to run nixos (i.e. the linux distro) then the configuration file is written in the nix language. Given that you’ll have to configure your installati

by jauco 4y ago

If you want to run nixos (i.e. the linux distro) then the configuration file is written in the nix language. Given that you’ll have to configure your installation, you’ll have to learn the nix language If you just want to use nix for packages, you can run any distro and install nix the package manager into it. This is a good way to dip your toes in the water. And in that case you can just use the cli commands for installing packages.

codedokode 4y ago
I remember reading that nix unlike all other distros can install multiple version of the same package and I want this feature, but I guess programming a package config might be too much for me. Maybe I'll try nix package manager then.
- rssoconnor 4y ago
  While maybe not impossible, it is quite hard to cox Nix to "install" multiple different versions of the packages. They all cannot be in your path at the same time. I still encourage you to give it a try. You can build different versions of same package and not "install" them. Instead just execute the binary from the built version (I do this where I have a built-but-not-installed version of openssh-8.6 laying around because I have an old service that modern SSH no longer supports). You can also run `nix-shell -p <custom-package-version>` to get a shell with a specific package available in the path, overtop of whatever might be globally installed. Who knows, you might even be tempted to dip your toes into the Nix language by writing a custom `shell.nix` to build a shell with some more complex development environment, or to simply automate a complex `nix-shell -p` command.
- pxc 4y ago
  The Nix idioms that are used in configuring NixOS are super simple, mostly just turning things on and off. You can browse some here: https://search.nixos.org/options https://search.nixos.org/options For example, to install an OpenSSH server and run it, you'd write: services.openssh.enable = true; and to run it on an additional port, 2222, instead of just the default of 22, you'd write: services.openssh.ports = [ 22 2222 ]; For programs you don't need to configure but just want to put on your PATH, you just add them to a list like environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.firefox pkgs.jq ]; If configuration management isn't for you, go ahead and mess around with Nix as a standalone package manager. But NixOS really doesn't require much effort or prior knowledge to get up and running and start playing with it! (For NixOS, the Nix you write only starts looking like real code when you want to add new features or some packages to NixOS.)
- mattarm 4y ago
  > nix unlike all other distros can install multiple version of the same package The above is sometimes true and sometimes not. For the most part, Nix can install multiple versions of a program but only one can be in use at any given time. Nix is for the most part shell based workflow (as in bash, zsh, etc.). The `nix-shell` command lets you switch out the packages (and versions of packages) that are used in any given shell, but it works off of a configuration file written in the Nix language that you write. The programs that are available are controlled by environment variables such as PATH and MANPATH. Nix is a big shift from the usual way of dealing with packages, programs, etc. It isn't really useful until you really make the effort to understand what is going on, learn the Nix language, etc. If you are not interested in "programming" your system, then it probably isn't for you.
  - Cloudef 4y ago
    This is only true if you want multiple versions in the same global environment. If you really want them in global environment, you can create meta package that aliases with symlinks. Otherwise you can use nix-shell to get any environment you want.
  - kaba0 4y ago
    > Nix can install multiple versions of a program but only one can be in use at any given time. That’s not really true and is only a limitation of how PATH works on UNIXes (the first match is used). But you can for example add an aliased name for multiple versions of the same package, or for another meaning of use you can have different executables in the same environment different versions of the same lib (e.g. one bash script references python3, the other python3-at-specific-patch/minor-version/whatever)
  - chriswarbo 4y ago
    > or the most part, Nix can install multiple versions of a program but only one can be in use at any given time. That's a bit hand-wavey. More precisely: when you run a command, like `python3`, you can only associate that with one file. If you want multiple Python 3 interpreters, you'll have to use different names (e.g. making symlinks). Alternatively, you don't need to bother "installing" anything; e.g. I use Nix for projects which use Scala, Maven, Python, NodeJS, etc. yet I don't have any of those installed. Instead, each project includes a `shell.nix` file which specifies the tools it wants. Running `nix-shell` in different folders gives me access to different tools. Also, with Nix we only need to care about the end result: we can "install" a bunch of different programs, even if they have incompatible dependencies, since we're not "installing" those dependencies. ("Install" just means putting a symlink in some bin/ folder, like /run/current-system/sw/bin on NixOS or $HOME/.nix-profile/bin on non-NixOS)

by jauco 4y ago

codedokode 4y ago

I remember reading that nix unlike all other distros can install multiple version of the same package and I want this feature, but I guess programming a package config might be too much for me. Maybe I'll try nix package manager then.

rssoconnor 4y ago
While maybe not impossible, it is quite hard to cox Nix to "install" multiple different versions of the packages. They all cannot be in your path at the same time. I still encourage you to give it a try. You can build different versions of same package and not "install" them. Instead just execute the binary from the built version (I do this where I have a built-but-not-installed version of openssh-8.6 laying around because I have an old service that modern SSH no longer supports). You can also run `nix-shell -p <custom-package-version>` to get a shell with a specific package available in the path, overtop of whatever might be globally installed. Who knows, you might even be tempted to dip your toes into the Nix language by writing a custom `shell.nix` to build a shell with some more complex development environment, or to simply automate a complex `nix-shell -p` command.
pxc 4y ago
The Nix idioms that are used in configuring NixOS are super simple, mostly just turning things on and off. You can browse some here: https://search.nixos.org/options https://search.nixos.org/options For example, to install an OpenSSH server and run it, you'd write: services.openssh.enable = true; and to run it on an additional port, 2222, instead of just the default of 22, you'd write: services.openssh.ports = [ 22 2222 ]; For programs you don't need to configure but just want to put on your PATH, you just add them to a list like environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.firefox pkgs.jq ]; If configuration management isn't for you, go ahead and mess around with Nix as a standalone package manager. But NixOS really doesn't require much effort or prior knowledge to get up and running and start playing with it! (For NixOS, the Nix you write only starts looking like real code when you want to add new features or some packages to NixOS.)
mattarm 4y ago
> nix unlike all other distros can install multiple version of the same package The above is sometimes true and sometimes not. For the most part, Nix can install multiple versions of a program but only one can be in use at any given time. Nix is for the most part shell based workflow (as in bash, zsh, etc.). The `nix-shell` command lets you switch out the packages (and versions of packages) that are used in any given shell, but it works off of a configuration file written in the Nix language that you write. The programs that are available are controlled by environment variables such as PATH and MANPATH. Nix is a big shift from the usual way of dealing with packages, programs, etc. It isn't really useful until you really make the effort to understand what is going on, learn the Nix language, etc. If you are not interested in "programming" your system, then it probably isn't for you.
- Cloudef 4y ago
  This is only true if you want multiple versions in the same global environment. If you really want them in global environment, you can create meta package that aliases with symlinks. Otherwise you can use nix-shell to get any environment you want.
- kaba0 4y ago
  > Nix can install multiple versions of a program but only one can be in use at any given time. That’s not really true and is only a limitation of how PATH works on UNIXes (the first match is used). But you can for example add an aliased name for multiple versions of the same package, or for another meaning of use you can have different executables in the same environment different versions of the same lib (e.g. one bash script references python3, the other python3-at-specific-patch/minor-version/whatever)
- chriswarbo 4y ago
  > or the most part, Nix can install multiple versions of a program but only one can be in use at any given time. That's a bit hand-wavey. More precisely: when you run a command, like `python3`, you can only associate that with one file. If you want multiple Python 3 interpreters, you'll have to use different names (e.g. making symlinks). Alternatively, you don't need to bother "installing" anything; e.g. I use Nix for projects which use Scala, Maven, Python, NodeJS, etc. yet I don't have any of those installed. Instead, each project includes a `shell.nix` file which specifies the tools it wants. Running `nix-shell` in different folders gives me access to different tools. Also, with Nix we only need to care about the end result: we can "install" a bunch of different programs, even if they have incompatible dependencies, since we're not "installing" those dependencies. ("Install" just means putting a symlink in some bin/ folder, like /run/current-system/sw/bin on NixOS or $HOME/.nix-profile/bin on non-NixOS)