this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2024
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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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What's up with the ux design of nix? I get it's made for advanced users but still. I'm reading through this guide and man it's convoluted.
The different ways of installing packages. Either through editing the configuration.nix or running a command. The weird inconsistency of nix commands.
nix-env -iAto install andnix-env --uninstallto uninstall. Then updating usesnix-channel --updatebut upgrade usesnixos-rebuild switch --upgrade. All this to use the package manager. Also haven't even mentioned flakes or home manager.It's a cool OS, but the UX really needs work imo.
[Edit] I do wanna add something else too because I feel like my point isn't getting across.
It's okay to have a complicated ui. Especially if your target audience are tech-savvy. But even tech-savvy people have to start as new users. A tech-savvy new user isn't going to know what the best practices are. Being able to anticipate the steps for installing a package is important for ux. If the commands for installing packages isn't cohesive/intuitive, then the user has to spend more time looking for guides and learning how to use the software.
People also mentioned a new command in the works. This is great! However, these current commands are being recommended through blogs and nix. New users won't know about this new command.
The errors are also pretty terrible, usually the thing that interests you is buried under a lot of text that makes troubleshooting a real pain.
oof, yeah.
i had a syntax error in my dotfiles that took me two hours to solve.
it was a missing semicolon that was wayyy above where the error said it was. it didn't even say missing semicolon, instead saying
unexpected '}' on line ...