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tylerjlHNSource author
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I'm also using nix to build all our team's software - which varies from Vue.js to Rust to Django - …

… I'm also using nix to build all our team's software - which varies from Vue.js to Rust to Django - and fold _all_ those development dependencies into a singular nix `devShell`. This means you can clone our repository, use `nix develop .`, and all engineers use the identical verisons of all software, dependencies, and libraries across several toolchains. It's incredibly convenient. (Imagine that you're a .js developer who needs to make a quick edit to a Rust backend route but doesn't sling Rust all day - you don't need to know how to setup rust at all, the `devShell` provides it). [1]: https://github.com/nix-community/nixos-generators

Original discussionZero to Nix, an unofficial, opinionated, gentle introduction to Nix225 source comments · at import
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MuffinFlavoredHN

I would love to see a discussion from somebody who really likes Nix on why it isn't ready for prime time yet/just play devil's advocate aloud on why it isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread. I feel like I must not be doing anything "serious" enough to need package reproducibility at that high level. I'm aware of things like git checkout/tags, package-lock.json, Cargo.lock, Docker image tags. What is a real world use case where Nix isn't overkill? I've read toolchains but... nvm (node version manager), rustup. I still Rust on a machine once and I never think about it again. It feels like the Kubernetes of package management/build if you will complexity wise. "Do we really need this or is it just what everybody else is doing?"

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marmadaHN

I'm curious, what the is the bend of nix for your dev env vs using a docker container with everything pre-installed

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johntashHN

I don't know much about Nix, but I'm planning on reading more about it. Since you mentioned packer/proxmox/nixos-generators - am I understanding correctly that nix could be used instead of packer to generate a vm image/template for proxmox(or whatever hypervisor)? Is it limited to NixOS or could it create a centos image as an example? I've used a combination of packer+ansible/chef/salt to create images, but it's always felt a little clunky.

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