Nix in 100 Seconds

Nix is a purely functional package manager and config tool. It also takes form as a fully-fledged Linux distro called NixOS.

#linux #programming #100SecondsOfCode

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🔖 Topics Covered

- What is NixOS?
- Why use Nix?
- Nix basics tutorial
- What is the best Linux distro?
- Advanced Linux concepts

[GSBarlev]

You've just made Nix users *extremely* happy. That's right, all eight of them.

[CurryHow]

Nix long time user and Haskell programmer here, welcome to the rabbit hole where you cannot edit your system files directly like you used to, if no one has wrapped it you must learn the functional language to change a simple parameter in your config, and we’ll all benefit from it! It’s a trap to force everyone learning functional programming, there’s no escape! You’re welcome!

[bause]

"It works on my machine "
- "send me your machine ! "

[Jademalo]

God i love NixOS, i spent a week writing a derivation and service for a weird 13 year old hardware driver and it now just works on all of my machines forever

[richtigmann]

NixOS in a nutshell:
- You can't change anything with commands anymore, non-FHS compliant means you can't even install binaries and expect them to work
- Everything has to be done through the config so you better hope there's an option for it or you'll have to learn how to code up that option yourself.
- But also has the most expansive collection of packages (Rivals and in some cases BEATS the AUR in package availability)
- Documentation SUCKS
- Even without the fact that you can undo changes like installing DEs at an instant, it's solid as a rock because it's all configuration, it'll just refuse to make your new configuration rather than accepting your command to break your system, NEVERhave an unbootable system AGAIN.
- What does this error message mean why can I not find anything online for this
- Best part is that ALL your changes are just LISTED there in a plain text file so you can just read it, leave comments, and just have living documentation of every single change you've made to your system. Congrats, it's really your system now.

[RenderingUser]

Clicking on fireship videos is a declarative process for me

[SL]

I‘m so glad I‘m not the only one who just SSH’s into remote hosts and starts to run random commands copied from all over the internet 😅

[SuperPuns]

This Video is a great example of why nix is so hard to learn for beginners. Multiple concepts/workflows are blended together when talking about abstract concepts.
NixOS != nix != nixpkgs, mainly because "nix" is actually multiple different things (a functiobal programming language and a package manager that can interpret it).
Nix can be used without NixOS (btw.) and the configuration.nix file is only used on NixOS.
Independent from the OS, there are many different ways to "use" packages:
- nix run
- nix profile ( / nix-env)
- nix shell
- nix develop (if you are using nix flakes, which are more or less just a scheme for organizing nix code)

Still a good video, even if it is not perfect and im happy to see nix getting some attention ❤

[jarradwilder]

Docker: You can configure your virtual machine!
Nix: You can configure your actual machine!

[edzynda]

Just recently switched to NixOS. It changed my life!

[tcurdt]

NixOS walks a fine line between frustration and purely amazing.
But everyone be careful: once you have got sucked into NixOS it's tough to go back. Despite all the pain.

[endunry]

German viewers:
"alright then... keep your secrets"

[zazathomas]

You missed a chance to say: Thanks for watching and I’ll see you in the “nix” one 😅

[daver]

Switched to NixOS a few years ago now and it's incredible! Feels like a next-gen OS in many ways. You didn't mention what I think is one of the coolest features: nix-shell -p somepackage - you can temporarily have any package up and running to do that one thing that one time, without the need to install it or deal with the cruft left over from said random installations over years of use. Fantastic!

[FreshSmog]

I firmly believe it's just a matter of time before we get a fully graphical nix configuration editor. Just push the right buttons and check the right boxes, all generic linux options can be defined without writing a single line of code. That's sufficient for most users.

[VoidHuskie]

Now I can add 5 years+ experience of nix in my resume

[hidekxyz]

This reproducible and declarative way of configuring your system is interesting because it allows for feature modularity without having to worry about system's state

For example, consider a program which uses python to work, if you install in your machine, you need to certify that you have the needed python version, but what if another program needs an older version of python

With Nix, you simply add to your package list or configure it using modules, which are literally code snippets that you can send to other people and it will work too

[amrswalha]

1:19 Best illustration of packages fighting of all time 😂😂

[roryb.bellows]

NixOS looks super cool, I'd definitely use it if I suddenly quit my job and stopped showering

[epicboi]

As a long-time Replit user, Nix has a massive grip on my projects