NixOS is a Linux distribution built on top of the Nix package manager (including the kernel, applications, system packages and configuration files). It uses a declarative configuration and allows reliable system updates.
This Linux distribution It is distributed through two main branches: current stable version and unstable after the latest development.
Although NixOS started as a research project, now it is a functional and usable operating system which includes hardware detection, KDE as the default desktop systems, and service management system.
About NixOS
Nix stores all packages in isolation from each other resulting in no / bin, / sbin, / lib or / usr directories and all packages are instead kept in / nix / store.
This is a cool look which is not found in other Linux distributions. Each package resides in its own subdirectory / store.
Each package has a unique identifier which captures all its dependencies stored in a cryptographic hash.
Although NixOS is a research project, it is a functional and usable operating system that includes physical machine detection, KDE as its default desktop, and systemd for managing system services.
NixOS has some tools created by its developers dedicated to DevOps and implementation tasks
With NixOS the desktop environment is automatically started, which in this case is KDE Plasma 5, which is a fairly clean desktop environment with good aesthetics.
The most fascinating part of NixOS is the configuration file that they implement for its installation, known as "Configuration.nix".
With which the user puts all the settings and needs specific to the system in this file.
In addition to this, we are given the possibility of being able to pre-choose the packages, the drivers that you want to use, the desktop environment, the display manager, the network administration options, the boot manager, the time zone, the server. display, users, touchpad options, etc.
Features
Nix Package Manager builds the full operating system during installation. It fully assembles the components of the operating system from the kernel to the software applications and system packages.
It also creates the configuration files that will meet your specifications.
Nix has many other advantages. For example, it is a purely functional Linux distribution. This means that it treats application packages as values in purely functional programming languages like Haskell.
They are built by functions that have no side effects on distribution performance.
The values never change after the applications are built. This trait allows for many powerful features.
This includes the ability to run multiple versions of an application, the stability of having complete dependency control for each application, the security of multi-user support, and the convenience of atomic updates and rollbacks.
As I said before, NixOS offers you a number of advantages and conveniences over more traditional Linux distributions. This makes NixOS particularly attractive to system administrators.
When a package is uninstalled, it is not removed from the system immediately. This delay facilitates an unexpected rollback.
It also avoids a problem in the profiles of other users about missing files. Instead, you can safely remove unused packages.
For example, the three-word command << nix-collect-garbage >> removes all packages that are not being used by any user profile or by a currently running program.
Download NixOS
Si want to test this Linux distribution on their computersThey must download the system image from the official website of the project where they can find a link in the download section. The link is this.
To save the NixOS image to a USB stick I can recommend the use of Etcher, which is a multiplatform tool.