NixOS

If you are a Linux user, you probably have heard at least a bit about the package manager/format hoohah. .rpm, .deb, etc.... It's been blamed for dissuading companies from porting their apps to Linux, and one must admit that it's a pain when a package isn't available using the package manager your distribution uses (*cough*Java*cough*).

It's only recently that I've found out about the Nix package manager. I'm somewhat embarrassed, because it's based on a lazy, pure functional language. You can have multiple versions of a package installed at the same time, eliminating what in the Windows world is called "DLL hell". It supports multiple users, so non-privileged users can install packages. (And if two users happen to install the same package, there will only be one instance of it.)

The Nix package manager is the basis for the Linux distribution NixOS. It may not be for everybody; there are programs out there that still have wired-in assumptions about where things live that NixOS doesn't necessarily follow. OTOH, it may well be for me, judging by a blog post titled "How I Develop with Nix". (Do also check out the comments from where a link was posted on Reddit.) In particular, check out the section titled "Profiling", which talks about getting around the very problem that made me swear off cabal, i.e. not having profiling versions of packages.

Think I'll start out with it on a virtual machine, and once I get some more experience, maybe it will become my distro of choice. (Admittedly I have yet to migrate to Sabayon as I've been making noises about...)