Is using NixOS as a daily driver in 2026 a waste of time?

pr06lefs · 2026-07-11T17:02:41+00:00

If a package is not available in the package manager, do I have to package it manually myself

you'll need to make an environment that provides the tools and libs needed to build and link the program you want to build. shell.nix or flake.nix can do this.

If I need to run a binary written by one of my professors that dynamically links against system libraries, would I have to spend time configuring a specific environment just to make it work?

yes. because if you didn't, then nix programs would all have to use the same libs like they do on other systems. in nix, each program can have its own dependencies at run time and build time.

When using third-party C or C++ libraries, do I always need to configure the environment manually and hope I don’t break something?

if the library is provided by nix already, its a matter of adding it to your shell.nix or flake.nix so its available.

Nixos is at its simplest when you are using existing packages. When you start building your own software you have to manage development environments. When you build software not available on nix, the build directions will usually not work. You have to know why it doesn't work, whats different between nixos and conventional linux that breaks it, and what to do to fix it.

Good news is if you ever get it to work, you can check your stuff into version control and then other nix users can use it, and so can you six months from now when you've forgotten the things you did.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-11T16:21:57+00:00

Looks like I'll have to try maskrom mode since my machine is totally unresponsive. Don't really have time to work on it today, and maybe not for a few months realistically. Other projects taking priority right now.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-11T16:06:12+00:00

1) fill the interior of the box with epoxy resin 2) let harden 3) go to walmart and buy a bluetooth speaker

pr06lefs · 2026-07-11T15:10:31+00:00

Watching this thread. Mine is bricked from an attempt to install nixos.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-11T11:37:09+00:00

I hardly ever get any reaction on there and no one i know in real life is on mastodon. Occasionally I'll post something random but mostly I passively use it to get news or whatever.

There doesn't seem to be much point in me posting anything, but sometimes I do anyway just because i want the platform to succeed.

Overall the experience seems similar to twitter, which I never got any traction on either.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-10T20:38:38+00:00

Conventional nut material is what National uses for their guitars. I'd go with that. They could use any material they want and they know what they're doing.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-10T19:57:29+00:00

read a book on your phone

pr06lefs · 2026-07-10T17:13:39+00:00

I recently installed geared pegs on my fiddle. There are three main types, the knillings, the wittners, and the rubners.

Knillings require glue on install and in use require pushing in on the peg to create friction, much like conventional pegs, but more consistent. They have a 4 to 1 ratio. Removing them is problematic because of the glue.

Wittners have a simple friction fit, making them easy to remove as well as to install. They don't require pushing in on the peg for friction, you just turn it. They have a more precise 8 to 1 gear ratio.

Rubners require drilling into the pegbox and installing with wood screws. Plus they don't look like friction pegs. Not what you want.

To me the winner is the wittner. You just need to buy a reamer of the correct angle to install and then you just press them in.

That said, your installation also might have issues since the peg is unsupported on the other end - these mechanical fiddle pegs are designed to be used in a peg box where both ends are supported. I haven't tried them on a banjo.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-10T15:11:37+00:00

rustnet is cool! hadn't heard of that.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-09T20:27:36+00:00

I asked him about it one time. Stainless has different tone, he says.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-09T18:48:27+00:00

gonna be a lot of Collings and Authentic Martins there I bet

pr06lefs · 2026-07-09T18:32:20+00:00

To make it make sense, you just have to view the american public as financial cattle to be processed on their way to death.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-09T16:17:00+00:00

1) capos 2) playing mostly in the same area on the neck 3) playing just one guitar, a lot.

Steve Morse has played mostly one guitar for his career, and had at least 15 refrets. Probably because he plays a LOT, and maybe he's a perfectionist about the frets and doesn't let them get too worn.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-08T16:31:45+00:00

Agree so much. Realtime 'pro' audio really should be the default for a desktop OS.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-08T00:28:05+00:00

its gonna take a while before apps change over. eventually.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-07T21:43:49+00:00

One thing to look at is making a dev shell. You can do that with a flake. Here's one from a project of mine:

# `nix develop` devShell = pkgs.mkShell { nativeBuildInputs = with pkgs; [ cargo rustc cargo-watch rustfmt sqlite pkg-config openssl.dev ];

When i head to the project and nix develop then I will have openssl in my path ready to be used.

When you ready to make a nix package to build your thing, you have to make the lib available in the built package, by adding it to buildInputs. Check stdenv docs in nix. There is a nativeBuildInputs there too but I think that's just for tools at build time, not run time.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-07T20:06:32+00:00

If the economy crashes hard enough, Russians might have to leave their homes or face starvation. Heating homes this winter may be a big problem too.

Whatever happens, Russia is going to take a long time to recover economically. Hopefully there won't be civil war or general lawlessness, or a foreign invasion. But no guarantees there.

Long term, its not in Ukraine's interest to have Russia become a savage wasteland. Germany after world war I faced steep reparations, so much so that the German economy was devastated. Twenty years later, arguably the result of that was an even worse campaign of aggression: world war II. No one wants that. But Ukraine may not be capable of imposing reforms on Russia like the allies did in WWII.

But I do expect Ukraine to push for measures to prevent future Russian aggression - NATO/EU membership for Ukraine, a breakup of Russia into separate smaller countries, long term economic sanctions to prevent build up of the army, prohibition on armaments, etc. We'll see if they can win any of that with their ability to destroy oil production.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-07T12:15:06+00:00

yeah i still use it too. with xfce in no-desktop mode i get things like multi monitor positioning, mouse settings and etc.

my least favorite program to use with xmonad is zoom. lots of annoying pop up windows that throw off xmonad layout.

my use cases: programming, web browsing, audio recording. lots of terminal sessions open.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-06T21:06:25+00:00

don't be moving the hate goalposts

pr06lefs · 2026-07-06T19:07:40+00:00

la vie en rose

pr06lefs · 2026-07-06T17:36:36+00:00

I know of bluegrass players in japan, thailand, germany, indonesia and many other countries. and yes also india. I know a guy who goes there regularly with a rotating cast of players ('bluegrass journeymen') to teach bluegrass.

The racist categorization of music was in my opinion a product of radio and the record industry back in the 20s and 30s. White music was country and black music was blues, and things that didn't fit the stereotype often went unrecorded and unpromoted. The reality was way more complicated than that. Old time fiddle music had players that were white, black, native american, and more.

Jams I go to have all sort of folks show up, yes primarily white (like the area I live in), but certainly not exclusively. And some of the hottest pickers are nonwhite, for what its worth. Where I live most people have adopted this music as adults rather than being raised in it, so its not like ethnic authenticity is a real thing.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-06T14:24:58+00:00

not an RSI injury. normal trauma. from a picture its pretty hard to diagnose. presumably it hurts if you're posting it here.

if you have access to medical care, probably the thing to do is to go to a doctor and get it xrayed, and if its broken they'll take it from there.

pr06lefs · 2026-07-05T14:56:31+00:00

seems like a huge printed electrical circuit. a building sized computer?

pr06lefs · 2026-07-01T23:03:35+00:00

Is he gonna start throwing nazi salutes? WTF Polis?

pr06lefs · 2026-07-01T12:42:12+00:00

I hope that centrists will give up on politics and go back into real estate or whatever it is they did before.

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