My Nixos Experience
Change Linux systems frequently until you locate your haven.
I went to NixOS this time.
After trying it a few years ago, I found it harder than any other system I’d used, even Arch. That’s right… But I tried it again this time, armed with all the knowledge I had learned before.
It wasn’t easy at first; I had to try a few different configurations before I could say that I had it right (in my opinion).
Thankfully, there are resources like the NixOS & Flakes Book that have greatly assisted me in learning more about the nuances of Nix.
After two weeks of using this new distribution, I understand what NixOS can do for me, and I find its declarative nature to be the most helpful.
I always wanted to be in charge of the packages that were installed on the system, so I used Arch Linux. With NixOS, I can achieve a somewhat similar minimal setup that is declarative and lets me add new packages or make minor system tweaks.
Since I want to eventually expand to all of my systems, one of the biggest challenges I faced was not learning the syntax of NixLanguage but rather having a well-organized and modular NixOS configuration that would make it simple for me to add new hosts and reuse the modules that define the system.
For a company standard point, I find this to be extremely beneficial, as it is highly replicable. However, even for common users like myself, being able to define all of my computers and my server in a way that makes it clear to me what is and isn’t in the system is just amazing.
Right now I’ve only set up my laptop (with Hyprland), but I’m going to move all of my systems, even the server, to NixOS because it’s such a great tool.
I think I may have found my utopia, where everything is minimal, maintainable, and in balance.