“NixOS is a Linux distribution configured using Nix. It is declarative, meaning that the entire system state can be defined in a single .nix file; and reproducible, meaning you can have multiple computers set up identically.

If this sounds like a bullshit timesink like Arch or Gentoo: it’s not. There was a time when the idea of spending an afternoon typing cryptsetup incantations into a terminal would have been appealing. That time is past. I don’t use distros that lack a graphical installer (running fdisk is frankly beneath my dignity) or that require extensive maintenance. I’m not building my own kernel with some bespoke set of paranoid CFLAGS. I just want something that works.

NixOS works. It actually works great.”

—Fernando Borretti, “NixOS for the Impatient.” borretti.me. May 6, 2023.

I have been meaning to try NixOS for awhile, but I didn’t want to have to figure out how to do the configuration file to get near what I use: mutt, Firefox, ssh, my VPN, etc. I am saving this one for when I finally decide to do it.