[unicornmama]

Nix is like sailing from Oakland to San Francisco on an aircraft carrier for your daily commute.

Most stuff I care about factors out into .config which I turn into a git repo, push to GitHub and slap on a CI checks for secrets.

Most engineers don’t need to forge a demonic pact with the Nix gods who demand I upend and replace everything from my operating system to my wife.

[__MatrixMan__]

95% of the time if I'm making nix a dependency it's just to install the correct version of python and poetry, then I let poetry handle the other dependencies. So it's totally possible to just use nix a little. My coworkers haven't even noticed the flake.nix in our repo, they just install those things by hand.

But then there's that 5% case where you do have to forge a demonic pact with the nix gods, and it's handy to have your summoning circle all warmed up and ready to go.

[heinrichhartman]

I had problems installing python dependencies with compiled library dependencies this way, eg pandas. Does that generally work for you?

[__MatrixMan__]

Pandas is one of those for which poetry alone doesn't do the job. So I have nix install pandas alongside poetry so that when poetry tries to install pandas, the non-python dependencies are all lined up.

Here's a (too verbose, sorry) example: https://stackoverflow.com/a/74944857/1054322

It works well on all of my linux boxes. On my mac it takes forever because it wants to rebuild the linux universe. Given that the system architecture is a parameter, I think there should be a way to rewrite my flake (or update the nixpkgs numpy) to just rely on bsd tools in those cases, but I haven't found it yet.

That's what's holding me up from recommending it to my team. I'm happy to just use linux everywhere, but they aren't.

[rgoulter]

Learning Nix just do manage your dotfiles*, yes.

But, now that you're using Nix, ... you could use Nix to describe an OS setup, write Docker images, declare the tooling for a dev environment, etc.

[colordrops]

Yes, in that it's military-grade technology that needs to be more accessible to the public. Otherwise I don't agree with your analogy.

[speed_spread]

Actual "military grade tech" assumes field service by minimally trained personnel and an efficient logistic chain of supply. This is is the opposite of Nix, which requires months of self-training futzing around with obscure commands and an obscurer language, backed by an out of date unsorted mound of documentation and recipes.

[colordrops]

An F-18 is military-grade tech and no minimally trained personnel are getting anywhere near it. It's all just bad analogies is my point.

[satiric]

Well, the USS Hornet is stationed right there in Alameda, and it's not being used for anything else... :)

[gandalfgeek]

You win this thread.