I’m currently using Manjaro with i3 and no desktop environment. The problems with Manjaro as well as the lack of cohesiveness and missing features from not having a DE are prompting me to switch distributions. This isn’t the point of the post but I want to keep the i3 workflow but achieve DE level (gnome level ideally) of polish and ease of use. If you have any recommendations for doing this shoot them my way.
Anyway, the two options I’m thinking of are fedora and nix. Fedora is a safe choice I think, I know what I’m going to get. Nix is really tempting. The idea that I can reproduce my system with one file is very tantalizing considering I already keep track of my dot files with git. My concerns about nix are regarding ease of use, learning curve, and polish. Is it wise to invest the time into learning something so niche like how to configure everything with nix, a skill that isn’t portable to any other distro? I’m not quite sure.
Also if anyone has tips for making switching distros easier I’d appreciate it.
Edit: I ended up choosing fedora. I added the pop shell for tiling and this workspace indicator extension. I only set it up yesterday but I’m very excited it seems like an incredible system.
You’ve basically identified the advantages and disadvantages of Nix properly.
When you learn Nix and how it works, it is incredibly powerful. Being able to version your entire OS with one configuration is incredible. Old software that messes things up just doesn’t exist. It’s easy to explore new software, configurations, and upgrades and roll back to your old state seamlessly. No more “well I deleted an environment variable and now my performance is 50% worse and I don’t even remember what that environment variable was named or where it should live.” With Nix, you can switch from i3 to Hyprland, try it out for a day, and then switch back to your old configuration seamlessly and easily.
The disadvantages are that you need to know Nix (the programming language and configuration file syntax) to do it, and they are complicated. Worth it in my opinion but it’s not easy.
Every other distro is basically different from Nix because of this, as you will be configuring them manually to a greater or lesser extent. I find that manual configuration to be annoying and I always had to create tools to help version my configs properly before Nix. But it is certainly easier to do since you just have to understand the software you’re installing and how to configure it. In Nix, you have to understand both that, and Nix.
I think it’s totally worth it. But only you can make that call for you.