> Nix is the ultimate expression of this abandonment of the concept of a desktop distro. NixOS deliberately avoids having global/implicit 'system' libraries /

> Nix is the ultimate expression of this abandonment of the concept of a desktop distro. NixOS deliberately avoids having global/implicit 'system' libraries / configured state, and instead demands declarative expression of the system configuration. -- The libraries the system uses don't adhere to a global FHS structure. Nix similarly eschews use of global/implicit libraries. Building each package requires its dependencies be declared. However, it's incorrect to say this is "just containers". I don't see how you get "abandonment of concept of desktop distro" from "doesn't have implicit system libraries". -- NixOS allowing the whole system configuration starting from a single file is convenient, and something people might otherwise use a tool like Ansible for. That said, NixOS obviously has many use cases which have significantly higher friction compared to more typical systems. (And a steep learning curve to overcome that friction). -- e.g. on Arch or Ubuntu, the system configuration is global and malleable.