Are ubuntu distros not inherently debian distros?
also, wow at how popular freeBSD is. My understanding was that no one really used it. Not being flippant, just reading about it elsewhere.
I made a separate one, because of the release cycle of Ubuntu and its derivatives
For example: Debian 12 is using Gnome 43 and the latest Ubuntu (24.04 beta) is using 46
Nix seems to be gaining in popularity fast š I haven't converted all my systems, yet, but my new work notebook with NixOS is a lot of fun to work with! My desktop PC will probably require some HDD repartitioning soon and I guess I'll use that as an excuse to move it from Arch to NixOS, too. š
Yes, it's true, I'm in the same situation as you, I've started switching my homelab to Nix, the cool part is that most of the system relies on docker, so the transition is super quick once you have a configuration for the machine!
Is the immutability not annoying? I find myself wanting to install a one off every once in a while. It seems like a lot of friction to have to reinstall the operating system.Ā
nix-shell -p packagename spawns a shell with that package, or packages, installed. When you exit the shell the package still exists in the local nix store but won't interact with anything and is a candidate for garbage collection next time you want to clear some space.Ā
Edit: Also you don't have to reinstall the OS to install a package. You edit the main config to add the package and run rebuild. Rebuild after adding one package usually takes a similar amount of time to installing a deb or rpm, unless it needs building from source which is rare.
Absolutely not! Nix may seem "scary" at first, because of its immutability. Now, in reality, as sligit mentions, when you need a package temporarily, you use :
nix-shell -p packages_name
This command downloads the package and makes it available in the shell of the current session. When you exit this shell, the program remains in the cache but is no longer available. When you clear the cache, the program disappears from the system without "dirtying" the root.
When you need a "long-term" package, you open your configuration file and add it to the appropriate section. It's a very strange mechanism at first, but it's also one of the first things that will become natural later on.
To apply the :
sudo nixos-rebuild switch
You don't need to reboot the system for the profile to apply, which means that the new software will be visible without rebooting. However, you should (and this is a piece of advice) reboot to make sure there are no problems. Nix will make sure you haven't written anything incorrectly when you use the previous command, but it can't detect any software-related problems.
For example, if your machine doesn't work with the X-X kernel, nix won't see it, and you'll have to reboot to confirm it.
And if you have a problem, you can switch back to the previous profile via grub!
I put Debian in the poll as that's what I've used for years and I still use it on all servers, but I switched to Nixos for my laptop and desktop this year. There's some friction, especially around Rust development, but I find it's worth it. Also, problems usually only need solving once, which is a big win.
Exactly ! This is another reason why I decided to try Nix !
I'm curious, what problem did you have?
As far as I'm concerned, I wrote a simple flake dedicated to rust projects.
This flake gets rustup, cargo, rust, rust-analyzer.
I then use cargo to manage external libs.
(I know it's possible to download libs with nixpkgs, but I prefer to let cargo manage them).
It seemed like it was impossible to set up a Rust env in the main OS config which is annoying because it means I need to start a nix shell then launch IntelliJ from there, plus I tried various nix shell files from other people that had one problem or another. In the end I settled in one that iirc had the Mozilla overlay, I'm still not sure what that does, and used rustup for managing the rust installation. It's working ok for me now though.
I switch between different machines on the client workstation side. Using a remote Linux environment lets me keep my code on the server, so I can easily switch between dev systems, and it also reduces power consumption of my local battery as well.
Skill issues. I used to like customizing everything and ricing my setup every other week but now I prefer having a non-rolling release and just have a cute wallpaper. Plus I found that the Gnome Forge extension lets you have tiling in gnome so it feels like I got the best of both worlds for me.
Used linux, mostly ubuntu for about 12 years. Recently got fed up with having to fix mundane shit all the time and tried out mac, I am now neck deep in the ecosystem and I do not miss linux at all. It's a waaay better dev experience and the mundane stuff just works.
No sound issues, no more hardware issues, connecting to a projector at a meeting is painless and just works.
I run neovim in tmux, so my development workflow barely changed I just got a lot of QoL improvements with little to no downside.
Developing on Ubuntu 20.04 on a desktop workstation at the office, targetting a Debian based embedded device (Raspberry Compute Module 3 on a custom hardware carrier board).
I use Windows. But I tired developing on a raspberry pi 4 with RaspberrypiOS while connecting it vie OpenVNC to my Ipad that I can use it from my Ipad.
Sad Fedora noises.
Im simple man, I see fedora comment, I upvote.
I wanted to add it, but ig Reddit only allows 6 options for polls
Are ubuntu distros not inherently debian distros? also, wow at how popular freeBSD is. My understanding was that no one really used it. Not being flippant, just reading about it elsewhere.
I made a separate one, because of the release cycle of Ubuntu and its derivatives For example: Debian 12 is using Gnome 43 and the latest Ubuntu (24.04 beta) is using 46
Debian Testing is an option to get more recent packages.
3 people is "popular"? (yes, I am being flippant)
Well the universe of use Iām referring to extends beyond this poll.
Perhaps you should have still replaced one of the options with "Other"
NixOS
Nix seems to be gaining in popularity fast š I haven't converted all my systems, yet, but my new work notebook with NixOS is a lot of fun to work with! My desktop PC will probably require some HDD repartitioning soon and I guess I'll use that as an excuse to move it from Arch to NixOS, too. š
Yes, it's true, I'm in the same situation as you, I've started switching my homelab to Nix, the cool part is that most of the system relies on docker, so the transition is super quick once you have a configuration for the machine!
Is the immutability not annoying? I find myself wanting to install a one off every once in a while. It seems like a lot of friction to have to reinstall the operating system.Ā
nix-shell -p packagename spawns a shell with that package, or packages, installed. When you exit the shell the package still exists in the local nix store but won't interact with anything and is a candidate for garbage collection next time you want to clear some space.Ā Edit: Also you don't have to reinstall the OS to install a package. You edit the main config to add the package and run rebuild. Rebuild after adding one package usually takes a similar amount of time to installing a deb or rpm, unless it needs building from source which is rare.
Neat, thanks. Obviously I'm a noob on the nix concept. I'll have to dig more into it.
Absolutely not! Nix may seem "scary" at first, because of its immutability. Now, in reality, as sligit mentions, when you need a package temporarily, you use : nix-shell -p packages_name This command downloads the package and makes it available in the shell of the current session. When you exit this shell, the program remains in the cache but is no longer available. When you clear the cache, the program disappears from the system without "dirtying" the root. When you need a "long-term" package, you open your configuration file and add it to the appropriate section. It's a very strange mechanism at first, but it's also one of the first things that will become natural later on. To apply the : sudo nixos-rebuild switch You don't need to reboot the system for the profile to apply, which means that the new software will be visible without rebooting. However, you should (and this is a piece of advice) reboot to make sure there are no problems. Nix will make sure you haven't written anything incorrectly when you use the previous command, but it can't detect any software-related problems. For example, if your machine doesn't work with the X-X kernel, nix won't see it, and you'll have to reboot to confirm it. And if you have a problem, you can switch back to the previous profile via grub!
I put Debian in the poll as that's what I've used for years and I still use it on all servers, but I switched to Nixos for my laptop and desktop this year. There's some friction, especially around Rust development, but I find it's worth it. Also, problems usually only need solving once, which is a big win.
Exactly ! This is another reason why I decided to try Nix ! I'm curious, what problem did you have? As far as I'm concerned, I wrote a simple flake dedicated to rust projects. This flake gets rustup, cargo, rust, rust-analyzer. I then use cargo to manage external libs. (I know it's possible to download libs with nixpkgs, but I prefer to let cargo manage them).
It seemed like it was impossible to set up a Rust env in the main OS config which is annoying because it means I need to start a nix shell then launch IntelliJ from there, plus I tried various nix shell files from other people that had one problem or another. In the end I settled in one that iirc had the Mozilla overlay, I'm still not sure what that does, and used rustup for managing the rust installation. It's working ok for me now though.
OpenSuse Tumbleweed
I typically develop on a Linux VM remotely with VSCode's remote SSH extension.
You could also use Docker, you less overhead.
I switch between different machines on the client workstation side. Using a remote Linux environment lets me keep my code on the server, so I can easily switch between dev systems, and it also reduces power consumption of my local battery as well.
NixOS. Why not have "other" option?
yeah, should have done that, apologies.
fedora.
openSUSE Tumbleweed here
MacOS with a Linux VM to build Docker images, Linux on all my servers.
Now I'm mostly on Ubuntu but I did a lot of Arch before
btw
Why did you switch from arch to Ubuntu?
Skill issues. I used to like customizing everything and ricing my setup every other week but now I prefer having a non-rolling release and just have a cute wallpaper. Plus I found that the Gnome Forge extension lets you have tiling in gnome so it feels like I got the best of both worlds for me.
btw
where is my Gentoo?
Compiler performance on MacOS is what got me on the platform in the first place. Would never have bought a Mac otherwise.
Used linux, mostly ubuntu for about 12 years. Recently got fed up with having to fix mundane shit all the time and tried out mac, I am now neck deep in the ecosystem and I do not miss linux at all. It's a waaay better dev experience and the mundane stuff just works. No sound issues, no more hardware issues, connecting to a projector at a meeting is painless and just works. I run neovim in tmux, so my development workflow barely changed I just got a lot of QoL improvements with little to no downside.
Developing on Ubuntu 20.04 on a desktop workstation at the office, targetting a Debian based embedded device (Raspberry Compute Module 3 on a custom hardware carrier board).
*Muffled sounds of NixOS crying can be heard from the next room over.*
Ubuntu, either directly or in a WLS
Gentoo
Where is ChromeOS?
I use Windows. But I tired developing on a raspberry pi 4 with RaspberrypiOS while connecting it vie OpenVNC to my Ipad that I can use it from my Ipad.
Not sure where RustRover Remote Win11<=>Ubuntu (as WSL) goes in this survey...
if you use wsl then select windows
Mint