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When I've had to use a Mac, I've used nix to good success. I'm actually surprised how well it worked; I was able to basically just use the same config I use on

by paholg 2y ago

When I've had to use a Mac, I've used nix to good success. I'm actually surprised how well it worked; I was able to basically just use the same config I use on Linux, removing just the few Linux-specific packages.

SOLAR_FIELDS 2y ago
Do you not use many packages and only strictly use FOSS tooling? I have a large and growing list of packages that have to be managed in Homebrew still because the package is one of the following: 1. Not available at all in nixpkgs (e.g. Docker Desktop, BetterTouchTool, etc) 2. In nixpkgs, but completely broken or missing some architecture support (e.g. Firefox) 3. Actually available and somewhat functional in nixpkgs, but some significant features don't work because of code signing requirements and needing to be managed in the Applications folder (e.g. 1Password) Quite a few tools do in fact work well with nix on Mac. Especially if it's FOSS and/or a cli-only based tool. And for FOSS tooling such as Firefox, there is often a convoluted workaround (I'm currently using `github:bandithedoge/nixpkgs-firefox-darwin`). And of course you can always package it yourself by doing things The Hard Way. But the platform is still quite a ways away from being able to be used as a daily driver on Mac without Homebrew.
- paholg 2y ago
  Huh, interesting. I did primarily use FOSS and CLI applications. It's been a couple years, so I don't remember what exactly I used it for. I probably installed Docker Desktop via whatever method docker recommends, and I'm not sure about Firefox. For alacrity, I remember it being annoying to integrate into Mac's launcher, but it otherwise worked. Pretty much everything else was programming-related and just worked.
- Cloudef 2y ago
  If you want graphical apps to be handled by nix on macos, you might be interested in <https://github.com/BatteredBunny/brew-nix https://github.com/BatteredBunny/brew-nix>. nixpkgs does not package macos sandboxed apps AFAIK, that means typically only cli utilities, libraries and development tools only work.
  - SOLAR_FIELDS 2y ago
    Tried this when it was released on HN. It does not work out of the box. There is some problem with launching apps from outside of the applications folder. The trampoline Mac-app-útil approach does not work. Though in theory it probably should for most applications. I don’t know enough about the code signing process to be able to debug what is wrong with it.
- pxc 2y ago
  I recently tried out mac-app-util¹, which fixes some of the usual pain with GUI apps. In conjunction with brew-nix², it looks like it might be most of what I'll need to move away from having Nix manage Homebrew for me. I don't use very many GUI apps so now that the installation piece is taken care of, I can just package everything I use if it really comes down to it. That'd be worth it for me just to get rid of the painfully slow `brew` invocations that lurk in my activation scripts. -- 1: https://github.com/hraban/mac-app-util https://github.com/hraban/mac-app-util 2: https://github.com/BatteredBunny/brew-nix https://github.com/BatteredBunny/brew-nix
  - SOLAR_FIELDS 2y ago
    I tried this exact combination but it did not work out of the box for the apps I tried. For gui apps bundled with brew-nix they will panic due to something about how the code signing keys are copied with brew-nix. The Mac-app-util trampoline launcher does work with the regular way that brew is managed with nix (which under the hood just shells out to brew) though. So the problem is likely related to brew-nix installing apps outside of the Applications folder. I hacked around a bit trying a few different approaches before giving up and switching back to the regular nix-Darwin homebrew approach. But the issue is probably solvable by someone who knows a lot more about how the code signing process works with Macs and the Applications folder
    - pxc 2y ago
      Ugh! How annoying. Which apps did you try that with? I just gave it a try with a couple random ones. I tried Marta, CyberDuck, IINA, KeePassXC, and CotEditor and they all worked. (Spotify didn't build because the Brew package doesn't have a hash, and Karabiner Elements didn't build bc idk why, but that's actually in Nixpkgs already and that version works fine.) I did double-check that I have SIP enabled and everything. I'd be interested in trying to repro! Aside: that mac-app-util works so nicely for the macOS apps that are already in Nixpkgs makes it feel much more worth it to me to package GUI apps for macOS, if that'll mean I can get rid of `brew` entirely. I wonder if this will spur others to also package more GUI apps this way.

by paholg 2y ago

SOLAR_FIELDS 2y ago

Do you not use many packages and only strictly use FOSS tooling? I have a large and growing list of packages that have to be managed in Homebrew still because the package is one of the following: 1. Not available at all in nixpkgs (e.g. Docker Desktop, BetterTouchTool, etc) 2. In nixpkgs, but completely broken or missing some architecture support (e.g. Firefox) 3. Actually available and somewhat functional in nixpkgs, but some significant features don't work because of code signing requirements and needing to be managed in the Applications folder (e.g. 1Password) Quite a few tools do in fact work well with nix on Mac. Especially if it's FOSS and/or a cli-only based tool. And for FOSS tooling such as Firefox, there is often a convoluted workaround (I'm currently using `github:bandithedoge/nixpkgs-firefox-darwin`). And of course you can always package it yourself by doing things The Hard Way. But the platform is still quite a ways away from being able to be used as a daily driver on Mac without Homebrew.

paholg 2y ago
Huh, interesting. I did primarily use FOSS and CLI applications. It's been a couple years, so I don't remember what exactly I used it for. I probably installed Docker Desktop via whatever method docker recommends, and I'm not sure about Firefox. For alacrity, I remember it being annoying to integrate into Mac's launcher, but it otherwise worked. Pretty much everything else was programming-related and just worked.
Cloudef 2y ago
If you want graphical apps to be handled by nix on macos, you might be interested in <https://github.com/BatteredBunny/brew-nix https://github.com/BatteredBunny/brew-nix>. nixpkgs does not package macos sandboxed apps AFAIK, that means typically only cli utilities, libraries and development tools only work.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 2y ago
  Tried this when it was released on HN. It does not work out of the box. There is some problem with launching apps from outside of the applications folder. The trampoline Mac-app-útil approach does not work. Though in theory it probably should for most applications. I don’t know enough about the code signing process to be able to debug what is wrong with it.
pxc 2y ago
I recently tried out mac-app-util¹, which fixes some of the usual pain with GUI apps. In conjunction with brew-nix², it looks like it might be most of what I'll need to move away from having Nix manage Homebrew for me. I don't use very many GUI apps so now that the installation piece is taken care of, I can just package everything I use if it really comes down to it. That'd be worth it for me just to get rid of the painfully slow `brew` invocations that lurk in my activation scripts. -- 1: https://github.com/hraban/mac-app-util https://github.com/hraban/mac-app-util 2: https://github.com/BatteredBunny/brew-nix https://github.com/BatteredBunny/brew-nix
- SOLAR_FIELDS 2y ago
  I tried this exact combination but it did not work out of the box for the apps I tried. For gui apps bundled with brew-nix they will panic due to something about how the code signing keys are copied with brew-nix. The Mac-app-util trampoline launcher does work with the regular way that brew is managed with nix (which under the hood just shells out to brew) though. So the problem is likely related to brew-nix installing apps outside of the Applications folder. I hacked around a bit trying a few different approaches before giving up and switching back to the regular nix-Darwin homebrew approach. But the issue is probably solvable by someone who knows a lot more about how the code signing process works with Macs and the Applications folder
  - pxc 2y ago
    Ugh! How annoying. Which apps did you try that with? I just gave it a try with a couple random ones. I tried Marta, CyberDuck, IINA, KeePassXC, and CotEditor and they all worked. (Spotify didn't build because the Brew package doesn't have a hash, and Karabiner Elements didn't build bc idk why, but that's actually in Nixpkgs already and that version works fine.) I did double-check that I have SIP enabled and everything. I'd be interested in trying to repro! Aside: that mac-app-util works so nicely for the macOS apps that are already in Nixpkgs makes it feel much more worth it to me to package GUI apps for macOS, if that'll mean I can get rid of `brew` entirely. I wonder if this will spur others to also package more GUI apps this way.