> And honestly, the package situation is the biggest downfall of nix(os), ... but it has a long way to go.
I have a big problem with "it has a long way to go" arguments. "It has a long way to go" in comparison to what? Every project I know of could be described as having "a long way to go".
If we're comparing it with ubuntu/debian, there are few packages that ubuntu/debian have that nixpkgs is missing. On the other hand, what's the status of getting kubernetes in ubuntu/debian? Last I heard it was mired in https://lwn.net/Articles/835599/. And what happens if you use the ubuntu/debian prometheus package? You currently get a version that many people would consider "too ancient to be useful". I could easily use these points to argue that debian has "a long way to go".
The real answer is "they're different". It's a mistake to think the two are just trying to replicate each other piece for piece.
The same goes for people arguing that the linux desktop has "a long way to go", whether they were making that argument in 2001 or 2021.
> I have a big problem with "it has a long way to go" arguments. "It has a long way to go" in comparison to what? Every project I know of could be described as having "a long way to go".
In comparison to any other mainstream OS nixos is going to have a lot of friction for most usecases. That is what I mean with it having long ways to go.
Part of that is configuration.
Other part of it is the package system being very immature. It is a direct consequence of the massive task nix has set out for itself, but that isn't always comforting for the end-user. And oh boy, the situation with looking for github-issues for packages is a freaking nightmare.
Just because nixos has a package for it doesn't mean that it does what it should or is up to date. That of course isn't the case for any package management system. But, all other mainstream OSes have matured. Nixos has a long way to go.
I love nixos, it is my main driver on my laptop and I run many VMs with it. If the future isn't incorporating the selling points of nixos I'm going to be dissapointed. But unless you want your OS to be your hobby I most certainly would not recommend nixos.
Nixops is another things that disappoint me / has long ways to go. It is the logical extension of what nixos is and it isn't really mature. There are lots of competing efforts for it and as someone willing to really invest time in it I just get exhausted.
I run Ubuntu and MacOS because I don’t want my OS to be my hobby. I’ve run LFS, Slackware, Gentoo, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Arch, Ubuntu Server (on laptop). I’ve spent a lot of time tweaking Xmonad, custom keyboard layouts, etc.
I would love for a distro with declarative configuration management. But I don’t have time for more hobbies right now.
I have a big problem with "it has a long way to go" arguments. "It has a long way to go" in comparison to what? Every project I know of could be described as having "a long way to go".
If we're comparing it with ubuntu/debian, there are few packages that ubuntu/debian have that nixpkgs is missing. On the other hand, what's the status of getting kubernetes in ubuntu/debian? Last I heard it was mired in https://lwn.net/Articles/835599/. And what happens if you use the ubuntu/debian prometheus package? You currently get a version that many people would consider "too ancient to be useful". I could easily use these points to argue that debian has "a long way to go".
The real answer is "they're different". It's a mistake to think the two are just trying to replicate each other piece for piece.
The same goes for people arguing that the linux desktop has "a long way to go", whether they were making that argument in 2001 or 2021.