Julia EvansNov 14, 2023
some notes on nix flakes https://jvns.ca/blog/2023/11/11/notes-on-nix-flakes/
Some notes on nix flakes

Some notes on nix flakes

Julia Evans
Show threadJulia EvansNov 14, 2023

a few people in the replies are asking why someone might want to use nix as an OS / to manage your python packages / to manage your config files.

does anyone want to share their reasons for doing those things? I don't really know.

(please give examples of some specific problems Nix solves for you and what you like about it, don't just say "it's reproducible/declarative” :) )

Show threadYet Another EU Nerd

@b0rk

I'm also curious about the use case of nix as a python packager.

On the one hand, I like Nix.

On the other, it feels...like adding Yet Another way to manage python dependencies.

I saw myself having to ~~torture~~ teach my poor colleagues about nix and gave up on the idea.

It just feels saner to use pip/poetry; ie: a program specific to this programming language.

Nov 14, 2023 at 4:28pmWeb
Show threadRob RicciNov 14, 2023
@yaeunerd @b0rk Re: nix and python: personally, I use python a fair bit but it's not my all-day-every-day job. I feel like python has made an absolute mess of its package management ecosystem, as it seems like every time I want to install a new application of any size, I have to learn a new package manager. Nix absolutely does not solve this problem, since it's yet another package manager. BUT since I already know how to use nix, it's much easier! I would personally not recommend that anyone adopt nix solely as a way to manage python packages. But if you have adopted nix, it becomes a nice way to manage dependencies for *everything* after that initial (steep!) learning curve
Show threadYet Another EU NerdNov 14, 2023
@ricci @b0rk Thanks for your reply. Makes a lot of sense.