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Once I started using NixOS, I can't see the point of all the other distributions - it's so easy to modify/remove/overwrite something and mess up your install, w

by exe34 2y ago

Once I started using NixOS, I can't see the point of all the other distributions - it's so easy to modify/remove/overwrite something and mess up your install, whereas in NixOS, I tell it what I want the system to look like and it will bring it back. After every upgrade, my system is exactly the way it was before - nothing's moved, nothing's changed, I don't have to go reset some settings, etc. In a way, it's taken the adventure out of upgrades.

dqv 2y ago
Yeah. I had been wanting what Nix does for years, but didn't know what Nix was until 2020? I always had this desire to create a shell script that would allow me to install a clean version of my system, but always got stuck at the part where you try to reverse your current OS state (config and packages) into a shell script. It's just too easy to do "apt-get install..." and then forget about your original intent of having a thing that produces your OS state. NixOS (and its relatives) is way more annoying about getting you to declare your config to get the OS state, which is perfect for a person like me. Being able to rollback packages (no, not individual files or groups of files, but discrete packages) is nice too. > it's so easy to modify/remove/overwrite something For some reason, out of the corner of my eye, I thought you were describing this as a feature of Nix because I missed the "mess up your install" part. It's easy to modify/remove/overwrite a package in Nix in a non-destructive way though. Of the few packages that have been broken for me, I feel empowered to pull them down and modify them to add needed functionality. And as I've gotten more confident, doing overlays or whatever they're called instead.
- exe34 2y ago
  yeah I meant e.g. edit a config file and forget that you did, or lose the original (nowadays you might be able to Google for it, and get the wrong version and make things even more confusing). on nixos anything that you do has to be explicit in your config and thus it can be undone as needed.

by exe34 2y ago

dqv 2y ago

Yeah. I had been wanting what Nix does for years, but didn't know what Nix was until 2020? I always had this desire to create a shell script that would allow me to install a clean version of my system, but always got stuck at the part where you try to reverse your current OS state (config and packages) into a shell script. It's just too easy to do "apt-get install..." and then forget about your original intent of having a thing that produces your OS state. NixOS (and its relatives) is way more annoying about getting you to declare your config to get the OS state, which is perfect for a person like me. Being able to rollback packages (no, not individual files or groups of files, but discrete packages) is nice too. > it's so easy to modify/remove/overwrite something For some reason, out of the corner of my eye, I thought you were describing this as a feature of Nix because I missed the "mess up your install" part. It's easy to modify/remove/overwrite a package in Nix in a non-destructive way though. Of the few packages that have been broken for me, I feel empowered to pull them down and modify them to add needed functionality. And as I've gotten more confident, doing overlays or whatever they're called instead.

exe34 2y ago
yeah I meant e.g. edit a config file and forget that you did, or lose the original (nowadays you might be able to Google for it, and get the wrong version and make things even more confusing). on nixos anything that you do has to be explicit in your config and thus it can be undone as needed.