Considering Guix and non-guix over NixOS, but is it a growing project?

Guix
1

Hey all! I’m new! I appreciate every response :slight_smile: - just got Guix up and running yesterday!

Guix has some things that I REALLY like over NixOS (scheme, good docs, etc)… but as somebody who isn’t hyper-GNU, I’m a bit concerned with Guix longevity for nonfree packages.

In its current state, are Guix and nonguix growing projects? I suppose I’m looking for assurance that these projects are healthy with plenty of years ahead.

1 Like
2

That is something that they are working on, and have actively sought out feedback from the community on how to retain users. One of these things is moving to Codeberg instead of using the mailing list for patches.

The Guix Foundation is currently running a fundraising campaign to sustain the project.

One thing that may reassure you is that Guix is bootstrappable, whereas NixOS is not, which gives it a bit of an edge for “serious” projects (in my opinion).

Enjoy

2 Likes
3

Much appreciated!

Glad to hear they listen to users - and glad to hear that nonguix seems in good health!

4

I think the whole point of running guix is to use free software exclusivley.

1 Like
5

I agree with the idea of Guix and its use of free software exclusively; however, in reality, for some reason or another, there is a subset of users who need to use nongnu/nonguix elements. The Guix project somehow needs to reconcile this as a valid requirement.

1 Like
6

Ah - fair enough. Thanks for the input

7

I only need a few things from nonguix… but even hardware wise it’s essential for me.

8

While this is the case for many guix users, I have anecdotally found almost all guix users I’ve interacted with to require some form of nonfree software. Most commonly firmware & the non-libre kernel, but also userspace programs like steam.

For my personal use case, the whole point of running guix is to have a declarative system that is configured in lisp. If nonfree packages were unavailable entirely on guix, I wouldn’t really be able to use it (proprietary wifi firmware & nvidia graphics card).

To answer OPs question, yes, both guix and nonguix are very healthy projects that receive a rather significant amount of attention, and it is not difficult to contribute your own things as well. Both have been going strong for a rather long time.

2 Likes
9

This was incredibly helpful - thank you!

10

I think the whole point of running guix is to use free software exclusively.

That’s a pretty limited view of Guix. Guix has a ton of more value outside of running free software.

The whole point of running Guix for me is:

  • I get a reproducible OS with Guix System
  • If something breaks, I can bisect my OS with guix system switch-generation and find the bug
  • I get a reproducible home environment with guix home
  • I can try out one-off tools without polluting my system with guix shell
  • I can get easy software builds with manifest.scm and even add reproducibility by adding channels.scm
  • I can easily package and distribute my own Guix packages via my own Guix channel which plugs into seamlessly into the existing guix tooling

Don’t get me wrong, FLOSS is awesome, but it’s totally ok (and necessary) to use nonfree software with Guix. You still get a ton of utility out of using it.

1 Like