Nerding out about Nix and NixOS with Jon Seager, Canonical

In this electrifying episode of "Nerding Out with Viktor," join us as we plunge into the dynamic world of Nix with Jon from Canonical. As the VP of Enterprise Engineering, Jon brings a treasure trove of experience, from his early days with Arch Linux to mastering Canonical's innovative automation tools like JuJu and charms.
The conversation shifts gears to the fascinating realm of Nix, where Jon unveils its prowess as both a functional programming language and a robust package manager. He zooms in on Nix's superpower for creating unparalleled reproducibility across systems, a groundbreaking feature in the software landscape.
Viktor and Jon then navigate the intricacies of NixOS, revealing its immutable elegance and how it revolutionizes system configuration with the Nix package manager and module system. Witness Jon's home setup, a tech enthusiast's paradise, showcasing the seamless integration of NixOS with Tailscale for an impenetrable zero-trust environment, all effortlessly maintained thanks to Nix's declarative genius.
Gear up for a riveting journey into Nix, a tool that's reshaping software development and system management. Jon also shares a curated list of resources for those ready to dive into the Nix universe:
Zero to Nix (zero-to-nix.com/) - Your portal to the Nix world.
Determinate Systems Nix Installer (github.com/Det...) - The ultimate tool for Nix setup.
Jon's NixOS Config (github.com/jns...) - A glimpse into a Nix expert's configuration.
Jon's Crafts Flake (github.com/jns...) - A treasure trove for Nix packaging.
Wil T Nix Guides (nixos.wiki/wik...) - Comprehensive guides to mastering Nix.
Jon's Libations (github.com/jns...) - A creative blend of Nix and mixology.

[@ChrisMcDonough]

Wonderful intro to Nix and NixOS!

[@nerdingoutwithviktor]

Thank you, Chris!

[@angeldude101]

Huh. So Tailscale is basically like a more convenient ssh or something? That sounds really useful when trying to connect from one device to another. Also, is _that_ why pipewire has been scratching so much? I swear, it was driving me crazy to the point of switching back to pulseaudio. If that's really all it takes to fix things, just disabling something, why is that not the default? Also why is this video the first place I'm seeing this? If this works, then this video might just singlehandedly redeem pipewire in my eyes. Edit: I'm now adding that wireplumber file to my config and rebuilding... through a browser window using tailscale to ssh into... the same machine the browser is on. :P

[@thenachotech]

Tailscale is like a VPN so you install it on your devices and they can connect to each other inside or outside of the network without any port forwarding, but it doesn't route your traffic through a node either so its very low latency.

[@henrikstanleymortensen4295]

Great session, loved it.

[@JanChristophEbersbach]

Great presentation, thank you! I'm a nix user since 2021 and built a number of configurations over the years. I take lots of new ideas from Jon's setup. Incredible craftsmanship!

[@imincik]

As a Nix user and contributor I must say that it was very well presented and explained. Great job !

[@unclefester9113]

Nix is amazing. Easy to install and use. Doing anything to it - or making any changes to it is beyond the grasp of most average noobs.

[@hamirmahal]

13:13 Is that kind of like `npx`?

[@james-cucumber]

NPX is a very good analogue for ‘nix shell‘, yes

[@QuantumKurator]

This is day one for me for Nix and NixOS, and this brought it all together for me. Well done!

[@GSteel-rh9iu]

Yay Eelco Dolstra!

[@MsHojat]

Man this subject seems incredibly esoteric. I consider myself to be quite a computer nerd and was rather lost. Although I don't know too much about Linux system so that certainly plays a factor.

[@nil0bject]

your cred is slipping. install debian and arch and fedora on an old machine you aren't using any more and get up to date

[@Juan_deep]

You’re a computer nerd but you don’t know much about linux… lmaoo something isnt adding up 😂 you macbook script kiddies crack me up