Stream: beginners

Topic: Getting started with nix


view this post on Zulip Jacob Elder (Jan 30 2024 at 22:11):

The roc/www/README.md file says simply "install nix" and then nix develop.

In my experience (macOS Sonoma and fresh Nix installation) the necessary command was actually quite a bit longer:

nix --extra-experimental-features nix-command develop --extra-experimental-features flakes

Not sure if this is something weird on my machine, or something that is worth documenting.

view this post on Zulip Brendan Hansknecht (Jan 30 2024 at 22:18):

Yeah, have to turn those two features on. Docs probably just haven't been updated. There is a nix config file that can be changed so you don't need to type them on the CLI everytime

view this post on Zulip Richard Feldman (Jan 30 2024 at 22:36):

I'm on Ventura (not sure if it matters) and always use nix develop, but I think I may have globally enabled those a long time ago? :thinking:

view this post on Zulip Brendan Hansknecht (Jan 30 2024 at 22:38):

We should probably add this to the guide: https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Flakes#Enable_flakes_permanently_in_NixOS

view this post on Zulip Brendan Hansknecht (Jan 30 2024 at 22:39):

I did that a long time ago as well.

view this post on Zulip Anton (Jan 31 2024 at 09:13):

I'll update the docs

view this post on Zulip RKB (Jan 31 2024 at 20:14):

the Determinate Systems nix installer is nice, and it enables flakes by default, as well as staying active over MacOS updates.
Would that be worth mentioning in the guide, alongside the official installer?

view this post on Zulip Brendan Hansknecht (Jan 31 2024 at 20:32):

That sounds really cool. Probably work mentioning with a short blurb as to why someone might want to use it


Last updated: Jul 05 2025 at 12:14 UTC