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Official NixOS Wiki Launched

wiki.nixos.org

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Re: Official NixOS Wiki Launched

#6

Post by lenerdenator »

keybored wrote: post #3

https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/Overview_of_the_Nix_Language > The Nix language is designed for conveniently creating and composing derivations – precise descriptions of how contents of existing files are used to derive new files. I’m getting Wikipedia math vibes.

Reminds me of the Haskell entry on the Brief, Incomplete, and Mostly Wrong History of Programming Languages [0].

"1990 - A committee formed by Simon Peyton-Jones, Paul Hudak, Philip Wadler, Ashton Kutcher, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals creates Haskell, a pure, non-strict, functional language. Haskell gets some resistance due to the complexity of using monads to control side effects. Wadler tries to appease critics by explaining that "a monad is a monoid in the category of endofunctors, what's the problem?""

Math people: "What if we made software code more like mathematical proofs?"

Idk. What if you had dated before age 38?

[0] http://james-iry.blogspot.com/2009/05/brief-incomplete-and-m...

Re: Official NixOS Wiki Launched

#7

Post by uyzstvqs »

I will definitely bookmark this. I've been meaning to try out NixOS. It seems like a really interesting alternative to using containers for deploying servers. Both much simpler and much more powerful.

Re: Official NixOS Wiki Launched

#8

Post by kkfx »

chiffre01 wrote: post #4

Early days, but it would be nice if the install guides were written out, not just links to videos.

IME videos + examples (repo of various configs for many common and less common scenarios) are much more effective (if up to date) than classic guides, specially for on-screen usages, while books are far more effective for the printed world.

Producing books demand a significant effort, especially if it's a teaching book, not a mere reference and still cover enough, keeping it up to date in a modern project it's almost a nightmare, so videos and examples remain the quickest and easiest solution.

Personally the main issue I have with NixOS is:

- the Nix language, especially compared to Guix System

- the lack of quickly digestible AND still deep enough docs

I've using NixOS as my main desktop and homeserver since some years and I still have to know Nix enough to be really "confident enough"...

Re: Official NixOS Wiki Launched

#9

Post by dcchambers »

Good wikis take time, a good community, and consistent leadership. Seeding content is hard and good content takes time to write and effort to maintain. I think NixOS needs a wiki like this, so I am glad to see this project started. Hopefully it succeeds!

Re: Official NixOS Wiki Launched

#10

Post by Asraelite »

kkfx wrote: post #8
chiffre01 wrote: post #4

Early days, but it would be nice if the install guides were written out, not just links to videos.

IME videos + examples (repo of various configs for many common and less common scenarios) are much more effective (if up to date) than classic guides, specially for on-screen usages, while books are far more effective for the printed world. Producing books demand a significant effort, especially if it's a teaching book, not a mere reference and still cover enough, keeping it up to date in a modern project it's almost…

I often like videos simply because it's impossible to leave out crucial information; everything is shown.

Text guides will often skip steps because they assume the reader will know what to do.

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