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0 pointspca0061324y ago0 comments

I think the problem with Nix is that it is actually not a package manager but a build tool (that provides some package management utilities). People try Nix with the assumption that it should be as easy as apt-get (for example), but found tutorials with a block of code in a weird language...

Sure, you will eventually need to use the Nix language if you want to have complex and reusable configurations, but this is actually not needed for beginners! To install packages, you need the Nix package manager (with channels already setup) and use `nix-env` to install for the current user. You can just search for the package in https://search.nixos.org/packages and use the command directly.

If you want to have user configurations, use home-manager, just modify the example to add other options, you seldom need complicated Nix expressions unless you need to build a package by yourself.

When you really need to do so, you may want to have a look at other's build script, and make sure you understand everything in the build process, including compile dependencies and runtime dependencies, environment variables, etc. You may want to read Nix Pills at some point, but maybe you can get away with reading just the relevant section (incomplete knowledge, but usually enough to get the work done).

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chriswarbo4y ago

> I think the problem with Nix is that it is actually not a package manager but a build tool (that provides some package management utilities). People try Nix with the assumption that it should be as easy as apt-get (for example), but found tutorials with a block of code in a weird language...

Indeed, I've been using Nix for many years (on Ubuntu, NixOS and macOS), and I now find the apt-get style 'considered harmful'.

Instead, I define a single Nix derivation ("package") which provides everything I want in its 'bin/' directory, e.g.

    with nixpkgs;
    buildEnv {
      name = "my-macbook-programs";
      paths = [ bash gimp /* etc */ ];
    }

The nix-build command creates a symlink called `result`, so I put `/path/to/my/git/repo/result/bin` in my $PATH.

pca006132OP4y ago

Just wondering, what is the benefit of doing this over nix-env for system-wide applications?

For project specific environments, I usually use `shell.nix` (maybe I should switch to flakes now) together with direnv that runs nix-shell automatically when you enter the directory.

For beginners to Nix, I think they should do the transition gradually, there are so many concepts in Nix that may be unfamiliar to them. I think getting a system to work quickly (maybe in a not so idiomatic way) is more encouraging than asking them to read Nix Pills and understand how packaging works in Nix :)

chriswarbo4y ago

`nix-env` is an imperative command, whilst writing a .nix file is declarative. In particular, the latter can be managed using git, e.g. here's mine: https://github.com/chriswarbo/dotfiles/blob/41c5c4643845f437...

That's actually over-complicated, since I used to use nix-darwin and haven't bothered to un-pick it yet.

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0 pointspca0061324y ago0 comments

If you want to have user configurations, use home-manager, just modify the example to add other options, you seldom need complicated Nix expressions unless you need to build a package by yourself.

0 comments

chriswarbo4y ago

Indeed, I've been using Nix for many years (on Ubuntu, NixOS and macOS), and I now find the apt-get style 'considered harmful'.

Instead, I define a single Nix derivation ("package") which provides everything I want in its 'bin/' directory, e.g.

    with nixpkgs;
    buildEnv {
      name = "my-macbook-programs";
      paths = [ bash gimp /* etc */ ];
    }

The nix-build command creates a symlink called `result`, so I put `/path/to/my/git/repo/result/bin` in my $PATH.

pca006132OP4y ago

Just wondering, what is the benefit of doing this over nix-env for system-wide applications?

For project specific environments, I usually use `shell.nix` (maybe I should switch to flakes now) together with direnv that runs nix-shell automatically when you enter the directory.

chriswarbo4y ago

That's actually over-complicated, since I used to use nix-darwin and haven't bothered to un-pick it yet.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse