nonguix VS nix

I use the nonguix channel for non-free stuff https://gitlab.com/nonguix/nonguix. It has the mainline linux kernel (instead of the free linux-libre), proprietary drivers and a bunch of other proprietary stuff.

Guix has these things called "channels" containing package definitions. They're actually just git repositories. nonguix was made to have nonfree stuff. It has a lot of stuff including the mainline linux kernel.

https://gitlab.com/nonguix/nonguix you can use non free software if you need to. But the project itself is a gnu project and as such should not encourage users to use non free software.

I think Guix approach is good, community helps with open-source packages, some third-party manages the non-free channels. And they are as easy to use

https://gitlab.com/nonguix/nonguix

There are flatpacks, snaps, appimages, PPAs, channels... why would you except a linux distro maintainer to work for free for a billion dollar company? Testing and maintain their software

My background consists of using/developing Guix, openSUSE/SUSE as well of OBS. I'm a co-maintainer at nonguix, where we provide non-free software which is not allowed at upstream Guix. We even run our own little build service, called Cuirass. This softwore is developed mostly by https://www.reddit.com/user/mothacehe/ :)

$ guix describe Generation 22 May 15 2022 19:02:44 (current) guix 9860c90 repository URL: https://git.savannah.gnu.org/git/guix.git branch: master commit: 9860c90e8e5362e0e843efbd45f4563b9746a196 guix-gaming-games 9924ad0 repository URL: https://gitlab.com/guix-gaming-channels/games.git branch: master commit: 9924ad0a66f98ea1b538761fd49521acf4f689a3 flat 094746c repository URL: https://github.com/flatwhatson/guix-channel.git branch: master commit: 094746c1e2e90f2df1e598ab1fd0abb4d75ce84d nonguix 1de0c32 repository URL: https://gitlab.com/nonguix/nonguix branch: master commit: 1de0c32142c54bc73af5556d5e45c77152b31f0f

Thanks for the link. Although I was just planning to follow the steps in the https://gitlab.com/nonguix/nonguix repo.

You'll want to read about "channels" which are additional software repositories you can include in Guix from anywhere, There are other channels, but the main one for non-free is https://gitlab.com/nonguix/nonguix

Even GNU Guix System (which is a fully libre, FSF approved distro) can be used to install non-free packages. All you have to do is add the nonguix repository.

> https://github.com/NixOS/nix/pull/9911#issuecomment-19252073...

As we covered in my last post, NixOS is a amazing Linux distribution for creating stable and declared environments. Now while this is amazing for a desktop setup, it is also perfect for a home-server or home-lab.

(Nix itself is slowly chugging along with Windows via MinGW - https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nix-on-windows/1113/108 and https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/1320 , for example.)

Nix is a cross-platform package manager. It uses the nix programming language. Nix and NixOs are often used in the same context, but while the first is a package manager, the latter is a linux distribution based on nix.

Today I want to talk to you about Nixos. What is it? Nixos is a declarative and reproducible OS, partly taking the words used on their own page. What does that mean?

Software developers often want to customize:

1. their home environments: for packages (some reach for brew on MacOS) and configurations (dotfiles, and some reach for stow).

2. their development shells: for build dependencies (compilers, SDKs, libraries), tools (LSP, linters, formatters, debuggers), and services (runtime, database). Some reach for devcontainers here.

3. or even their operating systems: for development, for CI, for deployment, or for personal use.

Nix provision all of the above in the same language, with Nixpkgs, NixOS, home-manager, and devShells such as https://devenv.sh/. What's more, Nix is (https://nixos.org/):

- reproducible: what works on your dev machine also works in CI in prod,

- declarative: you version control and review your configurations and infrastructure as code, at a reasonable level of abstraction,

- reliable: all changes are atomic with easy roll back.

Hopping from one distro to another with a different package manager might require some time to adapt. Using a package manager that can be installed on most distro is one way to help you get to work faster. Flatpak is one of them; other alternative are Snap, Nix or Homebrew. Flatpak is a good starter, and if you have a bunch of free time, I suggest trying Nix.

- it reduces bloat, because you can generate an environment or OS image with only the software needed to run a specific program or service

My guess is that a big efficiency gain would come from the second point, because you don't waste CPU on code that you don't use.

Does this make sense? Has anyone explored this?

[0]: https://nixos.org

1) Setting up the development environment - I currently use devcontainers for most things, but may also dig into nix -> isolated, portable, repeatable development environment 2) Exploring Echo - understand routing, requests, response, etc. 3) Incorporate Templ - integration with Echo, template composition, etc. 4) Integrating TailwindCSS - config for use with Echo/Templ, development cycle, deployment, etc. 5) Add in HTMX - endpoints, template structure, concepts, etc. 6) hyperscript for interactivity - client side interactivity