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Add to SafariNix vs Ubuntu Budgie
When comparing Nix vs Ubuntu Budgie, the Slant community recommends Nix for most people. In the question“What are the best Linux distributions for misanthropes?” Nix is ranked 84th while Ubuntu Budgie is ranked 124th. The most important reason people chose Nix is:
Nix is a purely functional package management system. This means that the act of building a package does not have side effects, such as destructively updating or deleting files that may be used by other packages.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro No side effects when building packages
Nix is a purely functional package management system. This means that the act of building a package does not have side effects, such as destructively updating or deleting files that may be used by other packages.
Pro Isolated development environments
Nix allows the creation of project-specific shell and build environments which are isolated from the rest of the system. These environments are defined declaratively to ensure reproducibility.
Pro Can replace docker in some places
Pro Can use multiple versions of the same package
Because of the functional approach it takes, Nix makes it easy for systems to use multiple versions of the same package simultaneously, and ensure that updating or removing a package can't break other packages.
Pro The configuration works on "All machines"
No more of the traditional: "it works on my machine". When it says reproducible, this is the real deal.
Pro User-friendly interface
Good interface on Budgie and a great approach on Ubuntu.
Pro Nightshift
Ubuntu Mate doesn’t have this and it’s really easy on the eyes when working at night.
Pro Minimal installation gives a new look and feel to what a reliable Os should be
LibreOffice may be exploited and used to attack you but a minimal installation keeps the stalkers at bay.
Pro Improved Wifi stability with update
Improved wifi stability with 5.15 update.
Pro Additional themes
No need for external theme sources that may affect how you use your OS. All your favorite distributions can be mimicked.
Pro Safe updates
Updates are stable so far.
Cons
Con Does not work well for services on non-NixOS systems
When using Nix with anything other than NixOS you can run into difficulties with trying to start up services. For example, you can install docker with Nix, but it won't integrate with the host system's systemd leaving you to handcraft awkward workarounds in order to start the background service that docker requires. This seems like a critical flaw when using Nix on anything that is not NixOS, and it's unfortunate because this affects many of the packages many users would be most interested in using Nix to handle.
Con Steep learning curve
Con Cannot handle filetypes that have different semantics across different versions
While the functional approach that Nix takes is great for sandboxing binary artifacts of packages, it seriously lacks any power in handling configuration files or user data. It's difficult to upgrade and downgrade files where semantics and syntax can change between versions. Especially in Debian/Ubuntu it can cause severe problems where the upgrade process blocks and the user needs to resolve the 3-way merge.
Con Feels slightly over-complicated
Con Can be slow and bloated
May be preferable for new users, but for those who want a minimal system it can be rather slow and comes with many preinstalled applications.
Con Has Wi-Fi issues
Asks for Wi-Fi password continuously.
Con Bad Experience after an update
Had a bad experience after an update and then I gave up.
Con Cannot customize the panel but then you get a more reliable system
A lot of us like to have a power button , restart button and other frequently used apps in our top panel but with Budgie you can’t really customize this but in return you get a great system.
Con It is only completely good if you install it separately rather than on another OS
