Nix-GUI: Make NixOS usable for non-technical users through settings / GUI
A lot of odd Nix hate in here, or at least extreme dislike.<p>NixOS is so very usable. There are a lot of foot-guns but that&#x27;s true of Linux systems.<p>It takes some time to get comfortable with all the different ways to configure stuff. There&#x27;s a new language, a new build system, a new Linux distribution.<p>I&#x27;ve spent very little time relative to say, figuring out dpkg or systemd, or learning Bash or C or Perl, or learning the Linux FHS.<p>NixOS makes running deterministic systems driven from a single configuration incredibly easy.<p>Nix the language and tools allow you to build software deterministically and create environments where that software is available (e.g. on $PATH).<p>Nix Flakes is an experimental feature aimed at bringing reproducible and hermetic configurations of dependencies into the fold (i.e. lock files, ala Gem or Cargo or Go Modules).<p>Nix-the-tool&#x27;s interactive &quot;package manager&quot; should be deprecated, as it&#x27;s a huge pitfall for most developers. But it works and is frankly a good first step for folks coming from Apt or Homebrew.<p>Learning to write modules is probably the steepest learning curve, but compared to learning how to build RPMs or Dpkg or Brew recipes, it&#x27;s really not bad at all. I actually find it <i>easier</i> and I&#x27;ve been at this for less than a year. Sure, if you&#x27;re trying to get something working no one has figured out yet you may be in for a pickle, but that feels like it&#x27;s always been true. The difference is a lot of software breaks and bends the rules and boundaries constructed to keep things and people sane. Nix does not allow that, generally, which is a very good thing. Fixing other people&#x27;s garbage is the bane of any package system maintainer, it&#x27;s no different here.