[singlepaynews]

You have reached goal state of what I'm getting at here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45160603

Do you think a "batteries-included" NixOS install could be developed for users like me? I feel like a NixOS with libreoffice, zoom, etc. could be a drop-in windows11 replacement for a lot of users.

Maybe the key feature would be a graphical installer; something that presents an app-store iterative-install UI and in the background handles configuration.nix, so nontechnical users don't have to use the terminal or wrap their head around declarative config / version control to get a reproducible desktop that they can simply install on new machines.

[jquaint]

I'm super curious about a similar goal.

https://github.com/snowfallorg/nix-software-center https://github.com/nix-gui/nix-gui

These might be interesting for you :)

[forgetbook]

Yep, this is pretty much exactly what I'm looking for, thanks!

As a though experiment, how could NixOS be packaged with this for consumer users?

[jquaint]

For stuff that's not in Nixpkgs like this, IMO flakes is the best option. Both of these require flakes.

On the topic of deploying flakes to consumer users. I'm currently exploring using https://github.com/nix-community/nixos-generators to create pre-made install iso's for a full "batteries included" experience. You can just "overwrite" the regular nixos image. Its Nix all the way down.

[Mic92]

We are also working on something as part of clan (https://clan.lol/). Video from our NixCon 2025 talk is hopefully soon out.

[nixosbestos]

I was surprised (and impressed and excited) to hear some rumblings about some of y'all thoughts "provisioning" at NixCon. I still am getting my head around clan, but I have long admired your work and wish you a lot of luck.

[forgetbook]

Def post the link when up; from your website what I'm getting is somehow docker images + kitchen sink, which may just be my lack of knowledge but in any case means I as a consumer / target user don't get it

[darkamaul]

I believe Determinate Nix has a graphical installer but I’ve never used it. [0]

[0] https://docs.determinate.systems/determinate-nix

[pxc]

That's just for Nix, not a way of installing NixOS.

NixOS itself has had a graphical installer for years, though.

[forgetbook]

You're misunderstanding, and it's a great opportunity for me to clarify:

I want a graphical installer for applications within NixOS.

Currently NixOS applications are added by editing the configuration.nix, with more specific tooling avaliable via flakes and home-manager. We agree that this is cool and good.

What I want for consumer use is NixOS, with an interal graphical installer that handles updating configurations in the background; ideally forming a no-terminal-necessary UX for consumer users.

[pxc]

Ah, yes, I see now. I think a NixOS configuration is best managed as text, but I can see now how code generation could potentially bridge that gap. I'm not currently confident in the ability of LLMs to do this, but I do think that a kind of "NixOS IDE", perhaps with a some GUI elements and writing to some constrained files is a good idea.

Once upon a time, Snowflake OS was working on this, but I don't think the project is very active anymore.

[singlepaynews]

I see your point for technical users, what I'm imagining is something where I install NixOS, and then download LibreOffice via a GUI, as is done on Windows/Mac/Most Linux tbh

I don't think an LLM is required here; for a very significant subset of nixpkgs I think updating the configuration.nix is a deterministic process.