So I have been using PopOS/Mint for a couple of years now and I regularly listen to Linux Unplugged and have been getting some FOMO when all they talk about how great NixOS is. So I guess my default starting point is going to be a Vm through VMware. My question is: Is this a good place to start? Should I just use a basic desktop on bare metal to get it running.

  • K1aymore@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I’ve heard people suggest starting in a VM (you can always copy your config and keep your changes), but I’m not really a big VM fan so if you have a spare drive or free space you could always dual-boot NixOS and another distro. In the beginning just work on getting a config you like and reading about things on the manual or nixos.wiki. The Nix Pills are cool but more focus on the Nix programming language rather than the NixOS config files, so they’re cool to do sometime but not the most important.

    • RevocableBasher@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      I would prefer VMs than dual booting for a few reason:

      • I can ssh to my shell in the VM from my host OS without having to setup any kind of GUI or hassles around that.
      • Also, my major goal of setting up a stable system would include to use a single minimal very stable OS with exact packages for my needs. Reproducibility is a plus too for nix. I can do whatever I want in the vm and nothing would break my hostOS as long as i play around in the VM.