This article will be developed through updates as I continue my journey with NixOS. I will document my discoveries, critiques, and experiences. As long as this post carries the “Under development” label, the content will continue to be updated.
Why am I switching to NixOS?
The main reason is stability. NixOS is renowned for its reliability, among many other things. This is possible thanks to its unique paradigm for managing packages and dependencies—an approach I will delve deeper into as I gain more experience with the system.
This model differs drastically from my current distribution, Arch Linux. Arch is characterized as a “bleeding edge” distribution, which means that the vast majority of packages are always at their most recent version. While this is exciting for staying on the cutting edge, it carries a risk: a poorly tested update can introduce regressions that compromise system stability, forcing you to spend hours fixing it or, in the worst-case scenario, reinstalling everything from scratch.
So, the question remains: why make the switch? This September, I am starting a new phase of my formal studies, and I need a robust work environment. I cannot afford for an unexpected update to interrupt my workflow or force me to spend time on critical maintenance tasks right before an exam. Although I have always kept Windows as a backup system—and it will likely stay there for a while longer—I do not want to abandon Linux, since I feel very comfortable in this environment. For this reason, I looked for a more predictable and resilient alternative, and NixOS—which I had been keeping an eye on for a while—positioned itself as the ideal choice.