17
That Computer Scientist - Nix is the New Arch! (thatcomputerscientist.com)
submitted 2 years ago by ericjmorey@programming.dev to c/linux@programming.dev
20 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] msage@programming.dev 6 points 2 years ago

So how useful it is in practice?

How do updates work?

Can it play Crysis?

[-] uthredii@programming.dev 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

So how useful it is in practice?

It's useful for quite a few things in practise:

  • You can be sure software that is packaged with nix will behave the same on different computers.
  • You can avoid dependency conflicts.
  • You can automate some things that would otherwise take multiple (mostly manual steps) on other systems.

This video shows off some of the cool things you can do with nix: https://youtube.com/watch?v=6Le0IbPRzOE&feature=share9

How do updates work?

You update a programming by specifying the latest version of a program in config and rebuilding.

You update the OS by pointing to the channel you want to use and rebuilding.

You can time travel back to a previous state if anything goes wrong.

Can it play Crysis?

I expect so, some people.do use nix for gaming.

[-] msage@programming.dev 1 points 2 years ago

You can be sure software {...} will behave the same

never had that issue before, as long as they have the same version and config

avoid dependency conflicts

I have those on Gentoo sometimes, possibly because I overloaded USE too much, but that's not something I have to deal with on Debian/Mint.

You can time travel back to a previous state

wasn't that possible before with snapshotting (btrfs/lvm)?

If it allowed me to avoid systemd, I would be willing to give it a go. Perhaps I will try it in a VM, but it's not going on any baremetal for now.

[-] jim_stark@programming.dev 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

You can be sure software {…} will behave the same

never had that issue before, as long as they have the same version and config

Pure:

If you uninstall a software it might still have residues. If you install a faulty driver, even if you uninstall it, it might still permanently mess the system configuration.

But with nix if you uninstall something it's like it never existed in your system.

Reproducible:

With nix all the apps in your OS are configure using a single or a few config file(s). So if you want to setup another system the same way you don't have to go hunting for dotfiles.

avoid dependency conflicts

that’s not something I have to deal with on Debian/Mint.

Because you are recommended to use only software present in the repositories. If you are the kind of person who doesn't need software outside of your OS repositories then of course you might never need to worry about dependencies. Other people are doing the job for you.

But if you want to software not in the repos and even if you want to package it for your OS you might run into dependency issues. Never with nix. It's more for people who don't mind packaging software for themselves (and the community) and don't want to deal with nasty dependency issues.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (6 replies)
load more comments (9 replies)
this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2023
17 points (94.7% liked)

Linux

7983 readers
393 users here now

A community for everything relating to the GNU/Linux operating system

Also check out:

Original icon base courtesy of lewing@isc.tamu.edu and The GIMP

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Ategon@programming.dev
anzo@programming.dev
dwraf_of_ignorance@programming.dev