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In my day job we are investigating dropping containers for the cases where it's used for simply having some setup that can be shared between developers and have

by AJRF 4y ago

In my day job we are investigating dropping containers for the cases where it's used for simply having some setup that can be shared between developers and have the build work. Currently trialing nix-shell (https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/command-ref/nix-shell.html https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/command-ref/nix-shell.ht...) in the iOS team (this team doesn't need to deploy software to servers, so its a small trial for now to make sure certain build tools are useable and on the right version for our build), but see no reason why it couldn't extend to other similar workflows in other teams.

crabmusket 4y ago
Same thing here. We're trying to cut down on the amount of OS-level dependencies for each service, which makes them feasible to run locally with minimal fuss.
rollcat 4y ago
I'm already using NixOS on my private laptop (sticking with macOS for work), but Nix on other OS's keeps tempting me. We're working on an application that needs to pull a whole bunch of "weird" dependencies, from all over the place: a specific version of Python, PyPI, apt/homebrew, binary-only proprietary software, etc. So far the answer has always been Docker and a specific release of Debian/Ubuntu, but keeping the code running on the host OS is always desirable, because there are occasionally features that need to work with host hardware, like audio. My problem with Nix is, just like Rust, while it provides a very high ROI, the barrier to entry seems very steep; and unlike Rust, the documentation still leaves a lot to wish for. I'd go all-in on it right now, but I'm (rightfully, I guess?) scared of Nix-unique problems that will take 10x the effort to address than the mess that we're currently dealing with.
- AJRF 4y ago
  I won't be the person to deny it can be tough to deal with issues. The documentation is vast but very shallow too, so you end up having to figure stuff our yourself.

by AJRF 4y ago

crabmusket 4y ago

Same thing here. We're trying to cut down on the amount of OS-level dependencies for each service, which makes them feasible to run locally with minimal fuss.

rollcat 4y ago

I'm already using NixOS on my private laptop (sticking with macOS for work), but Nix on other OS's keeps tempting me. We're working on an application that needs to pull a whole bunch of "weird" dependencies, from all over the place: a specific version of Python, PyPI, apt/homebrew, binary-only proprietary software, etc. So far the answer has always been Docker and a specific release of Debian/Ubuntu, but keeping the code running on the host OS is always desirable, because there are occasionally features that need to work with host hardware, like audio. My problem with Nix is, just like Rust, while it provides a very high ROI, the barrier to entry seems very steep; and unlike Rust, the documentation still leaves a lot to wish for. I'd go all-in on it right now, but I'm (rightfully, I guess?) scared of Nix-unique problems that will take 10x the effort to address than the mess that we're currently dealing with.

AJRF 4y ago
I won't be the person to deny it can be tough to deal with issues. The documentation is vast but very shallow too, so you end up having to figure stuff our yourself.