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This might get down voted, but here goes. I agree that the Nix documentation can be confusing and even contradictory at times. I agree that there is a steep lea

This might get down voted, but here goes. I agree that the Nix documentation can be confusing and even contradictory at times. I agree that there is a steep learning curve to getting started with Nix and NixOS. However, I do not think that Nix has ever claimed or intended to be a tool that can be used easily by everyone. If the ideas seem pointless and confusing to you, that's fine, don't use it. There are bunch of great package managers and linux distros that will probably suit you better. But, if you see the need for declarative package management, then Nix is for you. I'm a phd student in computational science. I use a bunch of different packages on my computer and I need to know exactly what I've installed and I do not have time to debug problems from dependency hell. Nix and NixOS have been two of the most interesting and useful tools I have every used. Not only have a gained huge productivity boost from having reproducible environments and declarative package management, but I've thoroughly enjoyed the process of learning these unique tools that, for me, are leagues better than any package management system I've used in the past. If it didn't work for you, I hope you find a tool that suits you better. But that doesn't mean its bad. It might just mean it wasn't intended for you.

jimbokun 3y ago
What are the productivity advantages over using Docker images?
- ngruhn 3y ago
  For me the big advantage is that it integrates much easier with my development environment. For example if I have a language server for some programming language running in Docker, it’s not obvious to me how to make it talk to my editor on the host. I can expose a port but both the editor and the language server need access to the code base I’m working on. I can mount the code base as a volume but the language server gets confused about absolute paths that are not matching and stuff like this.
- chriswarbo 3y ago
  Docker images of what? Docker cannot read minds; it has to be told what to put in those images. Nix is a tool for saying what you want; in a more sensible way than the de facto standard of "grab an entire Ubuntu installation, then run `apt-get -y` commands because I don't understand dpkg".
- megaloblasto 3y ago
  I agree with ngruhn that the integration of Nix with my entire development environment is much more seamless then docker images. I think what chriswarbo is getting at is that docker and Nix often have very different use cases. In my case, I have a few different computers, and I declare all of their environments with NixOS in the same directory. Then I use syncthing so that all the builds are automatically updated and in sync. This means that I can develop something on my desktop, and open up my laptop and run it without configuring anything. If it works on my desktop, it works on my laptop and vise-versa.
  - pxc 3y ago
    How do you use syncthing for Nix builds? Do you sync your Nix code and have something watch the Nix code and rebuild in the background?
    - megaloblasto 3y ago
      I do not, although that would be cool. If I make changes to my nixos config I just type "rebuild" in the terminal on which ever computer was affected. I have "rebuild" aliased to "sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake /home/user/nixos/#machine_name" on each machine. For example, I make a development environment on my desktop using a flake.nix file and a .envrc file in directory. I type direnv allow in that directory (actually all this is done with a script I wrote so I can just type "dev-env" in the terminal in the corresponding directory". Then open my laptop, syncthing makes it so the entire environment and all the files are already on my laptop. I type "direnv allow" in the directory in my laptop, and then "rebuild" if the NixOS configuration was changed. Then I can run the software that I wrote on the desktop.
cryptonector 3y ago
> However, I do not think that Nix has ever claimed or intended to be a tool that can be used easily by everyone. That's a terrible copout. Nix ought to be a great deal more accessible than it is. The premise ideas are sound, but the UI/UX is not.
deleted 3y ago
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jimbokun 3y ago

What are the productivity advantages over using Docker images?

ngruhn 3y ago
For me the big advantage is that it integrates much easier with my development environment. For example if I have a language server for some programming language running in Docker, it’s not obvious to me how to make it talk to my editor on the host. I can expose a port but both the editor and the language server need access to the code base I’m working on. I can mount the code base as a volume but the language server gets confused about absolute paths that are not matching and stuff like this.
chriswarbo 3y ago
Docker images of what? Docker cannot read minds; it has to be told what to put in those images. Nix is a tool for saying what you want; in a more sensible way than the de facto standard of "grab an entire Ubuntu installation, then run `apt-get -y` commands because I don't understand dpkg".
megaloblasto 3y ago
I agree with ngruhn that the integration of Nix with my entire development environment is much more seamless then docker images. I think what chriswarbo is getting at is that docker and Nix often have very different use cases. In my case, I have a few different computers, and I declare all of their environments with NixOS in the same directory. Then I use syncthing so that all the builds are automatically updated and in sync. This means that I can develop something on my desktop, and open up my laptop and run it without configuring anything. If it works on my desktop, it works on my laptop and vise-versa.
- pxc 3y ago
  How do you use syncthing for Nix builds? Do you sync your Nix code and have something watch the Nix code and rebuild in the background?
  - megaloblasto 3y ago
    I do not, although that would be cool. If I make changes to my nixos config I just type "rebuild" in the terminal on which ever computer was affected. I have "rebuild" aliased to "sudo nixos-rebuild switch --flake /home/user/nixos/#machine_name" on each machine. For example, I make a development environment on my desktop using a flake.nix file and a .envrc file in directory. I type direnv allow in that directory (actually all this is done with a script I wrote so I can just type "dev-env" in the terminal in the corresponding directory". Then open my laptop, syncthing makes it so the entire environment and all the files are already on my laptop. I type "direnv allow" in the directory in my laptop, and then "rebuild" if the NixOS configuration was changed. Then I can run the software that I wrote on the desktop.

cryptonector 3y ago

> However, I do not think that Nix has ever claimed or intended to be a tool that can be used easily by everyone. That's a terrible copout. Nix ought to be a great deal more accessible than it is. The premise ideas are sound, but the UI/UX is not.

deleted 3y ago

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