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I really want nix to succeed, but it has terrible UX and documentation. It also doesn't help that the community is still fighting over whether flakes should be

I really want nix to succeed, but it has terrible UX and documentation. It also doesn't help that the community is still fighting over whether flakes should be a thing.

hinkley 2y ago
Every time I’ve used a declarative system at work I either eventually become one of the experts and we all have lines outside our door of people who just don’t get it, or I replace it with something imperative so we can all get some fucking peace. Ant was by far the most stressful. I had to cyberstalk James Duncan Davidson to understand what he was thinking. The mental model for the tool wasn’t in the docs. It was in forum posts spread across three+ different websites. And it was slightly insane. First writer wins broke everyone’s brains across three jobs before someone helped me kill it and replace it with something else. It’s also a cornerstone of my thesis: never trust software someone says they wrote on an airplane. That’s not enough time to create a good solution, and any decision you make while experiencing altitude sickness is sketchy. (Prior to 2010, airline passengers were experiencing 8000 ft atmosphere on every flight. One of the selling points of the 787 was 5000 ft equivalent pressure)
- ericyd 2y ago
  Is it a frequent experience for you to have to disregard a piece of otherwise appealing software because the developer claims to have written it on a plane?
  - hinkley 2y ago
    It’s not that common for one to stick. But it is common for people to bitch about using them a lot more than average for tools.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 2y ago
  That… was not the thesis I was expecting
crakhamster01 2y ago
> It also doesn't help that the community is still fighting over whether flakes should be a thing. Could you elaborate on what the debate is? Haven't heard of this before!
aiono 2y ago
I agree with that. But that can be attemped to be solved by wrapping Nix with a better UX instead of building something from scratch.

I really want nix to succeed, but it has terrible UX and documentation. It also doesn't help that the community is still fighting over whether flakes should be a thing.

hinkley 2y ago

Every time I’ve used a declarative system at work I either eventually become one of the experts and we all have lines outside our door of people who just don’t get it, or I replace it with something imperative so we can all get some fucking peace. Ant was by far the most stressful. I had to cyberstalk James Duncan Davidson to understand what he was thinking. The mental model for the tool wasn’t in the docs. It was in forum posts spread across three+ different websites. And it was slightly insane. First writer wins broke everyone’s brains across three jobs before someone helped me kill it and replace it with something else. It’s also a cornerstone of my thesis: never trust software someone says they wrote on an airplane. That’s not enough time to create a good solution, and any decision you make while experiencing altitude sickness is sketchy. (Prior to 2010, airline passengers were experiencing 8000 ft atmosphere on every flight. One of the selling points of the 787 was 5000 ft equivalent pressure)

ericyd 2y ago
Is it a frequent experience for you to have to disregard a piece of otherwise appealing software because the developer claims to have written it on a plane?
- hinkley 2y ago
  It’s not that common for one to stick. But it is common for people to bitch about using them a lot more than average for tools.
SOLAR_FIELDS 2y ago
That… was not the thesis I was expecting

crakhamster01 2y ago

> It also doesn't help that the community is still fighting over whether flakes should be a thing. Could you elaborate on what the debate is? Haven't heard of this before!

aiono 2y ago

I agree with that. But that can be attemped to be solved by wrapping Nix with a better UX instead of building something from scratch.