How to use NixOS Package Manager?

1. How do I install apps on NixOS?
2. How does Nix package manager work?
3. What do you use NixOS for?
4. What does a package manager do?
5. How do you rebuild NixOS?
6. What is NixOS based on?
7. What is * nix in Linux?
8. What is Nix in Linux?
9. What is Nix build?
10. What is special about NixOS?
11. What init system does NixOS use?
12. How hard is NixOS?

How do I install apps on NixOS?

NixOS Quick Setup

1. Install Flatpak. To install Flatpak, set NixOS option services.flatpak.enable to true by putting the following into your /etc/nixos/configuration.nix : services.flatpak.enable = true; ...
2. Ready to go! Now all you have to do is install some apps!

How does Nix package manager work?

Nix is a cross-platform package manager that utilizes a purely functional deployment model where software is installed into unique directories generated through cryptographic hashes. A package's hash takes into account the dependencies, which is claimed to eliminate dependency hell. ...

What do you use NixOS for?

NixOS. NixOS is a GNU/Linux distribution that uses Nix as both a package manager and a configuration manager. Every single configuration file is described as a derivation, and your system is a derivation that depends on all the applications and config files you've specified.

What does a package manager do?

Package managers are charged with the task of finding, installing, maintaining or uninstalling software packages upon the user's command. Typical functions of a package management system include: ... Managing dependencies to ensure a package is installed with all packages it requires, thus avoiding "dependency hell"

How do you rebuild NixOS?

1. Run nixos-rebuild build to check that it actually builds correctly.
2. Enable persistent user instances in systemd [1].
3. Run nixos-rebuild switch/test/boot inside a screen (or tmux ?) session to keep it running after the ssh session ends.
4. remove the ./result symlink left by nixos-rebuild build.

What is NixOS based on?

NixOS is based on the Nix package manager that stores all packages in isolation from each other in the package store. Installed packages are identified by a cryptographic hash of all input used for their build.

What is * nix in Linux?

*nix just means operating systems that are like the old workhorse Unix. Some examples include Linux, FreeBSD, and Mac OS X (its kernel, Darwin, is based on BSD). The main relation between *nix and Ruby is just a pragmatic one; most Ruby developers seem to prefer to work on Unix-like OSes (typically Linux or Mac OS X).

What is Nix in Linux?

Nix is a powerful, purely functional package management system designed for reliable and reproducible package management, released under the terms of the GNU LGPLv2. 1. It is the primary package management system in NixOS, a lesser known Linux distribution.

What is Nix build?

nix-build is essentially a wrapper around nix-instantiate (to translate a high-level Nix expression to a low-level store derivation) and nix-store --realise (to build the store derivation). The result of the build is automatically registered as a root of the Nix garbage collector.

What is special about NixOS?

NixOS makes it easier to keep custom packages as part of your OS configuration. Rather than writing custom, imperative install scripts to run when setting up your machine, you can simply list your custom packages in your system's package list, and they will be built automatically.

What init system does NixOS use?

systemd is an integral part of NixOS, because it makes extensive use of its features, such as cgroups, sandboxing, user units, and systemd timers instead of cron.

How hard is NixOS?

NixOS is definitely a difficult operating system to get into, but it was well worth the effort for me. Through using NixOS, and reading the build specifications for packages in NixOS, I learnt a lot about the Linux itself. Now I have an operational system that I can replicate and rely on, which can last.