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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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127

Why aren't more people using NixPKGs? (lemmy.world)

submitted 8 months ago by clemdemort@lemmy.world to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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Distro agnostic packages like flatpaks and appimages have become extremely popular over the past few years, yet they seem to get a lot of dirt thrown on them because they are super bloated (since they bring all their dependencies with them).

NixPkgs are also distro agnostic, but they are about as light as regular system packages (.deb/.rpm/.PKG) all the while having an impressive 80 000 packages in their repos.

I don't get why more people aren't using them, sure they do need some tweaking but so do flatpaks, my main theory is that there are no graphical installer for them and the CLI installer is lacking (no progress bar, no ETA, strange syntax) I'm also scared that there is a downside to them I dont know about.

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[–] electricprism@lemmy.ml 21 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Learning curve? I've meant to get around to it but my to do list is pretty big so far.

Nix is on the destinations to visit but the configurations are still confusing at a glance.

[–] d3Xt3r@lemmy.nz 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

If you use Nix the imperative way (nix profile blah), you don't need to learn the Nix language at all, or write config files. Installing/removing/upgrading packages is just a single command, similar to other package managers.

Eg:

To search for bat on nixpkgs: nix search nixpkgs bat
To install bat: nix profile install nixpkgs#bat
To upgrade all packages: nix profile upgrade '.*'

Ref: https://nixos.org/manual/nix/stable/command-ref/new-cli/nix3-profile

[–] Shareni@programming.dev 1 points 8 months ago

Or just home-manager with a list of packages, and you avoid all of the issues imperative PMs have.

[–] matejc@matejc.com -3 points 8 months ago

Stop making a list and start with eg: Nix Pills