I'm Coding on Linux Again // My NixOS Dual PC Setup

I used to code on Linux, but for the past 4 years I've been coding on WSL2. Now, I’m going back to true Linux: NixOS. I've never used NixOS, but I've heard great things about it and it seems super interesting so figured I'd give it a shot.

In this video, I'm putting together a Dual PC setup: one with NixOS for coding and the other with Windows (i know i know, but i need it for content and gaming), and I'll be using a capture card to get the NixOS video feed over to my content machine. Then, I get NixOS installed and configured with the following (parenthesis list the lang each tool is written in):

OS: NixOS (Nix)
WM: Hyprland (C++)
Bar: Waybar (written in C++). I'll try out here soon hyprpanel, but it's written in TS and I guess it’s bloated because there are reports of freezing and lagging... but it sure is pretty.
Launcher: Rofi-wayland (C)
Terminal: foot (C). I like alacritty and have heard good things about wezterm, plus they’re written in Rust and I’m obviously a rust fanboy now… but I have no GPU on this machine so can’t even use their GPU acceleration. But I'll try out wezterm at some point.
Fetch: Nitch (C). Because I like the way it looks - gonna write my own fetcher in Rust though, just for fun.
Lock: Hyprlock (C++)
Dock: nwg-dock-hyprland (Python)
File Manager: Yazi (Rust) and Thunar (C). One is terminal, one is GUI, respectively.
Shell: zsh (C) with starship (Rust).
Text Editor: Base Neovim (Lua). Just base because I’m not diving into it just yet. When I do, I’ll do just as much research as I’ve done for this video - a lot. But I’ve seen things about nixCats, nvchad, nixvim… don’t know the difference but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.
IDE: VS Code & JetBrains. I'll do this setup in the next video, plus everything setup for Java dev, Rust dev, and whatever else I need to setup. I'd like to get Neovim to a spot where it can replace these, but I'll need a lot of plugins to make it as convenient as my typical IDEs, or close to it.
PDF Reader: Zathura (C). Supports vim keybinds.
TTY: no DM, but setup TTY to auto-start Hyprland on login. But maybe SDDM if I want to later.
Scratchpad: pyprland (Python)
Animated Wallpapers: swww (Rust)
Browser: Firefox. I'll look into Ladybird and maybe Zen. Idk if it really matters or if I really care.
Discord-Client: vesktop (JS/Electron, oof.)
Clipboard Tools: cliphist for history (Go) and wl-clipboard for basic clipboard operations (C)
Screenshots: grimblast (Bash)

0:00 i'm back coding on Linux
0:25 Dual PC Hardware Setup
4:14 stuff you probably don't care about
4:58 Download NixOS ISO
5:30 Install base NixOS
6:35 NixOS Hyprland + custom configuration
22:38 shutting down

Don't know why you'd want to follow me on other socials. I don't even post. But here you go.

[MoxMort]

Developers have setups like this and some bearded dude with energy drinks instead of blood working on a 15 year old laptop with a lit cig in their teeth is still outperfoming them

[rtfm_plz]

I like this style of video. It reminds me all of the techtubers are just people, luke us, who dont have enough time to read all of the docs and don't magically have a working project in the span of a 15min video.

[danielberry]

I admire your dedication to a very custom experience. I do not share it.

[JulienFeyrien]

I can't believe I just smiled the second I seen NixOS in the title.

[VictorSilvaDev]

It's satisfying to see you setting up the entire system.

[mattbrewerton]

Damnit I was super hyped for the next video... Then I realised this was uploaded 19 hours ago.

[kanishkjurel]

21:02 - if someone already hasnt pointed out- you can use stylix

[ruukes]

@fknight, you can use stylix to globally configure, nixOS with one theme eg. Catpuccin

[ags]

For water cooling, have a look at quick connects, you don't need to drain every time.

[gabbieblue]

you can very easily configure colour schemes on nixos using Stylix

[DashieTM]

For styling, you prob want stylix, a flake that configures a ton of programs to look like a specific theme. -> (yes, you absolutely want to learn about flakes, makes using projects outside of nixpkgs muuch easier)
Unfortunately it isn't perfect, aka some toolkits themselves aren't included, like QT, hence you would need to manually create a wrapper for it. (convert base16 to a QT theme with homemanager, prob leave this out for now and just see if stylix coveres most of your programs)

[jzetterman]

Ladybird isn’t ready yet. I’m using Zen Browser and liking it quite a bit. Good choice on Waybar. I tried Hyprpanel and it was definitely beautiful, but it was laggy as all get out due to the Typescript choice. I don’t know that it can be fixed to be honest. Good luck with Nix, see you on Arch soon! 😉

Were you at the Valley Forge micro center? Kinda looked like it. I’ve been there once myself, but I’m in Northeast PA so it’s a haul to get there.

[ivanheffner]

This looks like a faster way to a more customized setup. 20-years-younger me took the long way to similar going the Gentoo route. Today, I don’t have the time for that. I just want to be able sit down with a fresh computer, add the specific tools I use that aren’t part of the base system, and get to using the computer. Am I lazy or just old?

[andrebrandao]

you can use stylix to make the colorscheme work system wide or at least the apps stylix supports

[PanoramicDawnCottage]

You can configure hyprland with the nix language using home manager

[Kaszanas]

About the watercooling part, if you use quick-connects such that became popular recently you don't have to drain ;)

[lilGyros]

man i love rofi, its so clean and easy to setup
my favourite keybind for it is just using the super key [windows-key] to show and to hide again with:
bind = $mainMod, $mainMod_L, exec, pkill rofi || rofi -show drun [although not sure if the "_L" has to be on the first "$mainMod" or on the second 🤔 [like in my example]
still very convenient if you ask me

[invitedtohell]

21:56 the lack of a nerd font makes me cry pwp

[bluewinterwolf]

You dont need to drain your water cooling every time you switch hardware, yes, some you need to (the old watercooling kits) but not the newer ones as its all self inclusive.

[DeanHickerson]

Dang, drove all the way up from VA beach to Fairfax Micro Center. Surprising there isn't one in Richmond.