• fraichu@lemmy.ml
    28·
    2 years ago

    Since I’m already a NixOS user, I thought to check out Series 4. One of the steps was “install flatpak”

    My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

    • cally [he/they]@pawb.socialEnglish
      5·
      2 years ago

      “install flatpak”

      why would someone do that in NixOS? nix has a lot of packages and using flatpaks imperatively would lead to less reproducibility

      • null@slrpnk.net
        7·
        2 years ago

        My usecase is that I want to build a rock-solid workstation laptop for my non-tech-savvy family member.

        I configure all the basics in .nix files, and then from there, they can install Flatpak from the software center, like they are used to doing.

        Then I can just do a rebuild switch when I see them, make sure it’s all working, and then trust that they probably won’t break the system in-between.

        Edit: to be clear, in my own config, if it’s not reproducible, I’m actively working to fix that.

        • Laser@feddit.de
          3·
          2 years ago

          I mean why would you be fully against flatpak? I use NixOS without it and always packaged natively on Arch, but especially when upstream offers flatpak, it makes sense to enable it. Keeps the user-facing programs up to date and somewhat sandboxed while you can have a stable release beneath it. Especially if the system’s actual users aren’t that tech-savvy.

          Stuff on unstable tends to break, especially electron-dependent derivations. Stable doesn’t always have the latest and greatest. Flatpak seems like a good compromise for desktop applications in some cases.

          • null@slrpnk.net
            1·
            2 years ago

            Well the only real reason when it comes to Nix is that they aren’t declarative. For a lot of Nix users, the ability to describe every bit of software and all their settings in one giant config file is the draw. Not necessarily anything against Flatpaks themselves.

            But I agree, I like being able to mix the two where it makes sense.

            • Laser@feddit.de
              1·
              2 years ago

              NixOS itself by default isn’t fully declarative anyways, nix-env for example is imperative and very comparable to flatpak regarding applications.

              I welcome the efforts to move away from all imperative bits in NixOS though. My point was rather not to dismiss an article on NixOS for mentioning flatpaks.

              • null@slrpnk.net
                1·
                2 years ago

                Flakes takes care of a lot of the imperative bits, but some people are wary of them since they’re marked experimental.

                • Laser@feddit.de
                  1·
                  2 years ago

                  I don’t think flakes can do much more declarative than “legacy” nix, rather they increase reproducibility and purity. Also their tooling doesn’t offer imperative stuff by default, but I’m not sure they cover use cases previously solved imperatively. E.g. I don’t think you can install user software through a flake. Sure you can create shells with software available, but that is also possible without flakes.

                  Maybe my understanding here is wrong though.

                  • null@slrpnk.net
                    2·
                    2 years ago

                    They cover a few things – most notably they replace channels, which are imperative.

                    Unless I’m way off, you can also install user software through flakes if you add them as inputs. That’s what I’m doing with Musnix.

                    You can also pull a repo and ‘nix run .#software’ from the command-line, without entering a shell. That’s how I’m using NixifiedAI.

    • lemmy_user_838586@lemmy.ml
      4·
      2 years ago

      Ahh, itsfoss.com. they had some article on “being a supercharged Joplin user” or some nonsense and suggestion 3 or 4 was “Create a notebook”… Really being a power user when you’re utilizing the most basic functionality the app was created for…