NixOS

TL;DR Use Distrobox when nixpkgs fails you or you don’t bother with declarative configuration. Introduction Never have I expected this much friction and frustration when switching to NixOS as my daily driver for development work. 1. Only nodejs 18 and above are available on nixpkgs I don’t get to choose what nodejs versions to use for work. For legacy projects I need nodejs 8, 14, 16 etc. The “oldest” compiled nodejs version available in nixpkgs is 18. I found Nix package versions but it requires compiling them from source. I can’t tell my boss “I’m compiling Nodejs 10 please wait 4 hours” before working on it. How I miss fnm. ...

flowchart TD A[Start] --> B{Is plugin in nixpkgs?} B -->|Yes| C[Add to optionalPlugins] B -->|No| D[Add to flake inputs] C --> E[Add any plugin dependencies and tools] D --> E E --> G[Register to lze in init.lua] G --> K[Run nix build .] K --> L[Test with ./result/bin/nvim] TL;DR Check it out: nixCats-nvim-example Run git clone https://github.com/kohane27/nixCats-nvim-example.git ~/.config/nixCats-nvim and start tinkering! Caveat My template assumes you are familiar with the Neovim plugin ecosystem, like adding plugins with lazy.nvim in a normal Linux/MacOS environment. This guide only shows you how to do so in Nix/NixOS. ...

flowchart TD A[How do you use Neovim?] --> B[Basic text editing] A --> C[IDE/PDE experience] B --> D[Use programs.neovim] C --> E[Configuration preference?] E --> F["Nix manages plugins Lua configures nvim"] E --> G[Fully in Nix] F --> H[Use nixCats-nvim] G --> I["Use nvf"] H --> J[Starting point?] J --> K[Already using lazy.nvim] J --> L[Want maximum control] K --> M["templates/LazyVim"] L --> N["templates/example"] click C "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMVIJhC9Veg" _blank click D "https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Neovim" _blank click H "https://github.com/BirdeeHub/nixCats-nvim" _blank click K "https://github.com/folke/lazy.nvim" _blank click I "https://github.com/NotAShelf/nvf" _blank click M "https://github.com/BirdeeHub/nixCats-nvim/tree/main/templates/LazyVim" _blank click N "https://github.com/BirdeeHub/nixCats-nvim/tree/main/templates/example" _blank programs.neovim If the following describes how you use neovim: ...

TL;DR Download the Minimal ISO image and follow the Manual Installation to install librephoenix-nixos-config. I can’t stress this enough: DO NOT use any graphical ISO images like GNOME or Plasma Desktop! Use the Minimal ISO image not because we’re trying to be cool but because we want to make it work. Introduction If you think it’s as straightforward as installing Ubuntu, you’re in for a big surprise. There are so many gotchas along the way that I have to write it down for my future self, and hopefully for some other poor souls that stumble upon this article. ...