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Jump from Arch to NixOS? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by andrew0@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/linux@lemmy.ml

As the title implies, should I do it? I love Arch so far, and I can fix most issues that pop out. However, I sometimes wish to start fresh without too much hassle, but I get a feeling NixOS isn't as mature as Arch.

Have any of you used both, and if so, what do you miss from Arch? What are you grateful for in NixOS?

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[-] beetsnuami@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 year ago

I've also been distro-hopping, but settled on NixOS. I find it very clean, you know exactly where your (system-level) configuration files are (...and could even manage user-level config files using home-manager). There is a stable branch, which is, well, stable. And even if it wasn't, you can rollback the system at any point, which is trivial (just select a different generation during boot).

One of the biggest advantages for me is universal reproducible working environments. Using Nix+direnv, I can lock all tools (make, gcc, JupyterLab, Python, Julia) that I'm using in a project to specific versions (and upgrade/rollback). I can install programs/libraries in a nix shell and they will be removed on the next garbage collection. Upgrades are extremely safe: I once had a problem with RAM that corrupted a lot of my files during an upgrade. Nix can detect and repair this.

Downside is that Nix doesn't follow FHS, so some programs need a little help, for example by Nix' steam-run.

[-] RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 year ago

If you make the switch you won't be able to tell people you use Arch, so keep that in mind.

[-] iusearchbtw@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 1 year ago

true, but you'll be able to tell people you use nix

[-] WreckingBANG@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Nix is the new Arch

this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2023
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