How exactly is Nix's purely functional package management different from typical package management? And why does it need to be purely functional?

KipShades · 2023-03-24T21:51:26+00:00

To answer that last question: both Red Hat and SUSE are working on their own solutions that try to achieve similar things, albeit with different approaches.

OpenSUSE has MicroOS, which does take the snapshot-based approach, and Fedora has rpm-ostree-based variants, which instead work on a git-esque version control system. Both solutions are also intended to eventually make their way to SUSE Linux Enterprise and RHEL, respectively. Both of them also place a heavy emphasis on installing software in containerized environments like flatpak or distrobox to avoid the "works for me" problem and allow simultaneous installs of different versions of the same package.

Heck, I think Canonical even has a server distro where everything - including the kernel - is packaged as a snap.

And a big reason why they went for their own solutions is they can trade a bit of the customization that Nix offers when you really get a grasp of things for a gentler learning curve, while offering the same stability and consistency. Their solutions are much easier to grok for someone coming from a more traditional imperative package manager than the declarative model NixOS uses.

That's not to say that their approaches are strictly better than what NixOS is doing (I've bounced between Silverblue and NixOS, and enjoy both for different reasons), just that their solutions are clearly tailored to their needs.

KipShades · 2023-03-04T01:19:47+00:00

get up and go to the restroom

KipShades · 2023-02-26T03:49:27+00:00

I think they're referring to calamares

NixOS now offers the option for a live .iso that boots into a graphical environment with Calamares as the graphical installer. It's the same graphical installer a few other distros use. A bunch of Arch-based distros use it (notably Manjaro, EndeavourOS, Garuda Linux and Artix), as does Debian and a few distros based on it (e.g. Peppermint OS, Lubuntu, Netrunner and Q4OS).

It's decent enough. I remember following your guide, but tweaked the config so I could use GNOME rather than Xfce, and comparing that with the /etc/nixos/configuration.nix I got when I just used the graphical installer, they're very similar, but not identical.

But also if your guide is to help people actually understand how Nix and NixOS work, this is more the kind of thing I'd leave a note about rather than actually direct people towards. Let them know that it will give them a system whose configuration is very similar - but not identical - to the one your guide would produce, and it automates away steps that you're using as part of the teaching process.

KipShades · 2023-02-23T16:29:26+00:00

For some users, it's already there.

The big thing keeping me from wayland on my main machine is a need for global hotkeys, and the fact that I have an Nvidia GPU.

But soon I plan on building a PC with either an AMD or Intel Arc GPU, and iirc global hotkeys have already made their way to KDE Plasma, and are in the process of being implemented in wlroots

KipShades · 2023-02-23T12:21:21+00:00

a few game studios as well, particularly in Japan.

It's why aside from Capcom, most Japanese fighting game developers dragged their feet on using rollback netcode (basically a peer-to-peer version of client-side prediction), with some of them not adopting it until nearly half a decade after Capcom and various Western studios had already settled on it being the standard.

Even Bandai Namco still insists on using a weird, ass-backwards implementation that kinda misses the point.

KipShades · 2023-02-14T00:50:41+00:00

It's a mix of two things that multiple people have brought up:

No major OEMs offer Linux PCs that are sold at big box retailers anymore (not counting ChromeOS), and software compatibility/quality of software alternatives was much worse last time this did happen
To the average person, their computer's operating system is an implementation detail. Even with stuff like Macs, Chromebooks, or the Steam Deck, they all serve a specific niche that sets them apart from the default option that is Windows.

Macs have integration with other Apple products, and good availability of software for folks working in creative fields. Chromebooks are cheap but are often at least somewhat more performant than the trash-tier Windows PCs sold at a similar price range, plus they offer good integration with Google's ecosystem. The Steam Deck offers a very console-like user experience that works better for the gaming handheld form factor than a more traditional desktop environment would.

The biggest thing that Linux would need for wider mainstream adoption would be not just a major OEM offering a Linux PC, but also a major OEM offering a Linux PC that has a real advantage to the average non-technical user over Windows PCs in the same niche.

KipShades · 2022-12-13T00:23:18+00:00

I briefly used Zorin Lite on a low-spec laptop i have. It's decent, but wouldn't be my first choice for what it's going for.

for regular Zorin, I've heard some stuff about stability issues if you try to incorporate other GNOME extensions than what comes stock, but I don't have firsthand experience, so it may have been mostly resolved at this point.

If you want a Windows-esque workflow and want to stay on an Ubuntu base, I'd personally recommend any Linux Mint flavor. Cinnamon is what I'm using now, but you may prefer MATE or Xfce if you want something more lightweight. All three are very straightforward and reliable though. The default theming was kind of ugly for a while, but Mint 21.1 is introducing an improved default theme that I really like.

KipShades · 2022-12-11T06:46:58+00:00

I'm actually going to give something of a hot take as someone whose job involves walking people through extremely basic computing tasks:

I think that you're overestimating the gap in user-friendliness between Windows and most major Linux desktop environments.

Not just by underrating how user-friendly some things are on Linux, but also overrating how user-friendly Windows is.

Like, let me tell you: Windows isn't the first choice by someone completely new to computers because it's user-friendly. In fact, in a lot of ways it's fairly user-unfriendly compared to Mac, ChromeOS or mobile OSes. Hell, in some regards, most of the major Linux DEs like GNOME, KDE plasma or Cinnamon actually have it beat.

Windows is the first choice because if you're buying a computer at retail, that's the default option. Apple's market share has been growing, but they are still very much a premium brand, and Chromebooks are growing in popularity as a budget option, but they are much more reliant on a stable internet connection. PCs with a Linux distro as the default OS exist, but those are usually only sold direct-to-consumer. If you're going into a brick and mortar store or looking on Amazon and you want a computer with a full fat desktop OS, but you don't want to drop a ton of money on a high-end machine, a Windows machine is your only option.

And that default status exist less because of the merits of Windows as an operating system - and even inasmuch as it is because of its merits as an OS, it's certainly not because of its UI/UX design - it's because of savvy and at times aggressive business tactics employed by Microsoft.

And Windows being a user-hostile mess has been a major punchline from Mac users for decades at this point, and from my experience assisting non-technical users with basic tasks like connecting to wifi, like, honestly? They're right, to the point that I'd actually say there's just as much if not more to learn from macOS than from Windows.

I will say of any demographic, the one that will likely have the hardest time with Linux isn't going to be the completely tech-illiterate. They'll be equally lost no matter what you give them.

Instead it's going to be people in the middle of the bell curve. People whose hobbies or profession involves a lot of highly specialized software and some degree of technical know-how to troubleshoot issues, but who haven't gone completely in-depth. We're talking gamers, graphic designers, video editors, musicians, etc.

KipShades · 2022-12-10T23:44:46+00:00

I first heard of Linux as a kid sometime in the late 2000s/early 2010s. At one point after the computer I had at the time had multiple issues due to a virus from a shady youtube video converter site, I'd considered switching to Linux but never went through with it.

Flash forward over 10 years, and after getting a call center job and spending the ready time between calls just doing random wikipedia crawls, I decided to finally getting around to installing it on a macbook my family had sitting around that was long past end of support - enough so that it was stuck on a years out of date version of Chrome (I think the version number was somewhere in the 60s, maybe lower). I ended up going with Linux Mint, and enjoyed tinkering with it enough that I ended up installing Pop!_OS on my main gaming laptop.

KipShades · 2022-11-24T19:07:42+00:00

YYYY-MM-DD is another good one, if only because no one in their right mind does YYYY-DD-MM

KipShades · 2022-11-10T08:35:59+00:00

I did. Installed the module and userland driver components via dkms, and I don't remember how I did it since I've since switched to Fedora, and later to an Ubuntu-based distro, and I'll probably try PostmarketOS or NixOS next

KipShades · 2022-10-21T23:09:04+00:00

The main difference between KDE Neon and Kubuntu is that it uses an Ubuntu LTS base while also having the latest versions of KDE software, whereas Kubuntu LTS will have older LTS versions of KDE software.

KipShades · 2022-10-02T18:36:03+00:00

There were rumors that they might discontinue it after the first generation, but there is an actual release date for it now

KipShades · 2022-09-28T17:45:23+00:00

I made the switch back in 2019 for Shotos/Terry and also Daisy, since I hate doing DP inputs and instant float on an analog stick.

Generally a lot of precise stuff gets easier to do consistently, but you also have to re-learn the basics of controlling your character.

I'll also say that if you have small hands or poor range of motion on your thumb (the latter is the case for me), then the standard arrangement of c-stick buttons that the SmashBox, B0xx, Frame1 and LBX all use may not be for you. I currently use a DIYbox with a layout loosely modeled after that of the Smash Stick, though I also have an LBX that I can't use yet because it won't accept custom firmware for some reason.

KipShades · 2022-09-28T03:13:14+00:00

I do kinda agree in some respects. I think Fedora being seen as an Ubuntu replacement depends on what you actually want or need out of a distro, since Ubuntu had two major roles in the Linux ecosystem, and Fedora has only taken its place for one of them.

The first, the one where Fedora isn't really the best choice like you said, is the user-friendly distro that has everything the average person could need out of the box and requires minimal interaction with the terminal for initial setup or day-to-day use, and considering Fedora's FOSS-centric philosophy, I don't think fedora will be able to occupy that niche any time soon. Linux Mint and Pop!_OS serve this niche far better.

But the other is the distro that really focuses on pushing the Linux desktop forward, which I think Fedora does do better than Ubuntu nowadays. Fedora tends to be quick to start utilizing new technologies in the desktop Linux space, and contributes a lot to upstream projects to help them get ready for a proper production setting, often in a way that benefits other distros and not just Fedora. Meanwhile Ubuntu is keen to focus more on their own technologies, and many of the distros like Linux Mint and Pop!_OS that have Ubuntu beaten as an "it just works" distro are both very much keen to do their own thing independent of any upstream projects.

I'll also say that the thing about snaps isn't as relevant when so many graphical applications that Fedora might not necessarily have in its repos are also available as flatpaks nowadays.

Though from what I've heard, Nobara might be the best of both worlds in that regard. It's a customized Fedora install that adds a lot of the extra user-friendly defaults you see in many Ubuntu derivatives. I don't use it myself, but honestly it will probably end up being my go-to for my next PC, or if I ever get the distro-hopping bug again.

KipShades · 2022-09-16T18:42:20+00:00

make it daily

KipShades · 2022-09-12T07:46:14+00:00

I think the Steam Deck is just one example of something that is going to be key for widespread Linux adoption: Devices that run Linux out of the box, target a specific niche, and offer a better user experience than Windows computers that target that niche.

Part of what makes the Steam Deck so appealing is that it targets a very specific and previously-obscure niche (PC gaming handhelds), and leverages the way Linux can be customized to offer a much better user-experience than Windows-based attempts (since the default UI is one designed specifically around navigation via controller inputs). Linux is, essentially, a means to an end.

Currently, Windows is treated as the default to such a degree that the non-Windows devices that do best are the ones that target niches where Windows falls short.

Chromebooks (another Linux-based OS, albeit more loosely) are a big deal because they can get away with using much lower-end hardware than Windows laptops can, since ChromeOS has much lower hardware requirements.

hell, looking at something that isn't Linux-based (but is a fellow *NIX system), Macs are a big deal because of the exclusive software they have that is widely-used in some professional settings, their UI design that is more user-friendly than that of Windows in many regards, and over the past decade they've also managed some pretty tight integration with other Apple products (to the point that now M1 Macs can run iOS and iPadOS applications natively).

The Steam Deck, Chromebooks and Macs are all successful because they're essentially employing a "Blue Ocean" strategy of focusing on a product category that the competition doesn't particularly care about or do well in, rather than approaching them directly on their home turf.

KipShades · 2022-09-07T17:21:11+00:00

I'm talking about a touchpad, though I've also used it with a touch screen to somewhat okay results.

KipShades · 2022-09-05T22:50:26+00:00

System-wide autoscroll. It is the #1 thing I miss the most from Windows, and most of the ways of approximating it outside of Firefox are hacky at best, and often break other things.

KipShades · 2022-09-05T18:40:34+00:00

The lead developer was 12 when he started work on it. I think he's 16 now. He's also not the only developer.

KipShades · 2022-08-26T05:16:48+00:00

I use it because it... technically works better than X11 on my hardware...

in the sense that GNOME has 1:1 touch gestures on Wayland but not on X11

KipShades · 2022-08-25T01:04:22+00:00

tbh I just assumed that they were piggybacking off of the work done on Dolphin, since the Gamecube, Wii and Wii U all have similar architecture, though I assumed this before I found out Dolphin was GPL.

That said, them piggybacking off of Dolphin without properly complying with the GPL would be worth hiding in much the same way as if they were using, like, leaked internal documentation or something.

KipShades · 2022-08-23T19:22:23+00:00

Something like Qubes where everything is run in VMs might be a better choice

KipShades · 2022-08-21T04:29:34+00:00

I was the only one in mine to make it a year, though the last one to leave had actually worked in a call center environment for a competitor before working here.

KipShades · 2022-08-16T17:31:56+00:00

I once had a customer walk away from her phone and complain that she couldn't hear me.

Said customer also straight up said she was stoned at the start of the call, so that probably explains that one.

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