this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2024
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I appreciate the breakdown, but you've basically made my point for me.
The above, with its many advantages, versus:
Sudo apt install X Y Z G F P -y
Simple, clean, gets it done for near anyone.
Debian 12 came out last June. In December the version of docker that's shipped by Debian stopped being supported, and is now like 4 major releases behind nix. Debian won't update it for at least a year and a half unless there's some major security patch.
Besides that, when Debian 13 gets released and I reinstall, I can just clone my dotfiles and use a single line to reinstall all of the packages I need. All of the packages are in a single list, and so there's no more need to run health checks because I forgot to reinstall some random editor dependency for a language I use once a year. If I added it to the list it's going to be on every machine running that list.
Like most complex things in life, if you devout time to it and engage with it deeply you gain an advantage over a simplier version of the same thing. The question we all have to ask ourselves is "is this worth it?"
I'd say in your specific "docker centric while using debain" use case, sure. Most people who use linux as a daily driver? Maybe not.
What are you talking about?
Sure, it's slightly more complex than clicking a button in Discover, but it's not rocket science.
I'd say you've never seriously used a stable distro if you don't realize how common issues like that are.
I'm pretty certain the current hype for stable distros is fueled primarily by the growth of tools like flatpak. So, since linux users require an additional PM, the real question is: Are you using linux only for browsing and the occasional text editing?
Not to mention that the most common problems it solves can be solved by installing packages from source in a prefix like /opt or ~/.apps and symlinking them from a central place like /opt/.system or ~/.apps/.system or whatever.
I had a bash script 15 years ago that automated most of this. (Which gradually fell out of use when Arch and makepkg came along, but I digress.)
I can't help but feel like nix is a solution looking for a problem and solving it in a way that appeals to a certain kind of hobbyist but not so much to any practical purposes. Otherwise it would have been adopted more widely by now.