Why be productive with your computer when you can spend your time refactoring your NixOS configs into a dendritic pattern?
Half-joking. I use NixOS and I enjoy it, but I’m not gonna pretend I don’t spend a lot of time managing it (not that it needs managing per se). I obviously enjoy doing that though.
As for systemd avoidance, there’s also Guix which uses Scheme and their own init (Shepherd I think). It looks pretty cool, but I went with Nix anyway since it’s so much more popular. There’s also the fact that Guix Systems is an FSF approved distribution which means that discussing proprietary Guix channels is strictly forbidden, which while admirable gets kind of old quickly.
Choose Nix if:
Reproducibility is critical (dev → prod same environment)
You want a GitOps workflow (config as code, versioned)
Rollbacks on failure matter (atomic updates)
Choose Void if:
You want to learn traditional Linux without abstractions
Fast package management and lightweight system are priorities
Systemd avoidance is a goal in itself
Void is a better Linux distro. Nix is a better infrastructure tool. They solve different problems.
You were right from the start – if reproducibility and GitOps count, Nix is the only option. Void can’t deliver that.
Why be productive with your computer when you can spend your time refactoring your NixOS configs into a dendritic pattern?
Half-joking. I use NixOS and I enjoy it, but I’m not gonna pretend I don’t spend a lot of time managing it (not that it needs managing per se). I obviously enjoy doing that though.
As for systemd avoidance, there’s also Guix which uses Scheme and their own init (Shepherd I think). It looks pretty cool, but I went with Nix anyway since it’s so much more popular. There’s also the fact that Guix Systems is an FSF approved distribution which means that discussing proprietary Guix channels is strictly forbidden, which while admirable gets kind of old quickly.
Void has nix in its repos. NixOS is of course another thing.