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Is NixOS at the advent of an implosion? | Community inquiry on recent drama (discuss.online)

submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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NixOS' influence and importance at pushing Linux forward into the (previously) unexplored landscape of configuring your complete system through a single config file is undeniable. It's been a wild ride, but it was well worth it.

And although it has only been relatively recently that it has lost its niche status, the recent influx of so-called 'immutable' distros springing up like mushrooms is undeniably linked to and inspired by NixOS.

However, unfortunately, while this should have been very exciting times for what's yet to come, the recent drama surrounding the project has definitely tarnished how the project is perceived.

NixOS' ideas will definitely live on regardless. But how do you envision NixOS' own future? Any ETA's for when this drama will end? Which lessons have we learned (so far) from this drama? Are there any winners as a result of this drama? Could something like this happen to any distro?

In case you're out of the loop. Though, there's a lot that has transpired since but which hasn't been rigorously documented at a single place; like how 4 out of 5 NixOS board members have quit over the last 2 months or so.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago (2 children)

My take on it is that the creator of Nix was very good technically but was not a good BDFL, and that was the root of the problem. He didn't do a good job of politicking, stepped down, and now Nix is going through a bit of interregnum. I don't think it's likely to fail overall though, nixpkgs is too valuable of a resource to just get abandoned. I expect the board seats will be filled by people that know how to politick, and things will continue on after that.

Lessons learned is being a BDFL is hard. IMO Eelco Dolstra failed because he had opinions about things like Anduril sponsorship and flakes, and didn't just declare "This is the way things are going to be, take it or leave it". People got really pissed off because there wasn't a clear message or transparency, which resulted in lots of guessing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Thank you for your input! I would love to read more on this. Do you happen to know a good source wherein Eelco Dolstra's leadership is discussed (as fair as possible)?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Unfortunately there isn't one easy source that I've found. This is based on reading the stuff you linked to, as well as discourse/matrix discussions linked to from those sources. I compare it mentally to Guido van Rossum as BDFL of Python (though not any longer). He did a much better job of communicating expectations, like here

It made some people unhappy that there was no Python 2.8, but everybody knew what was happening. The core Python team also wasn't surprised by that announcement, unlike with stuff like Anduril or flakes for the nix devs.

There was also a failure to communicate with stuff like the PR that would switch to Meson. The PR author should have known if Eelco broadly agreed with it before opening it. If there was a process that the PR author just ignored, the PR should have been closed with "Follow this process and try again". That process can be as simple as "See if Eelco likes it", since he was BDFL, but the process needs to be very clear to everyone.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

Thank you for your insights! I appreciate it!

[–] [email protected] -4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

IMO politics have no place in technical discussions. Full disclosure, the last time I said this, my comment was removed for "transphobia"... somehow.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 months ago (1 children)

What you call politics (US political "issues") and politicking (the act of seeking and organizing power or influence) are different things.

Maybe US political issues have no spot in tech but politics are a part of being human.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Exactly, thanks. "politicking" != US political issues

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago

Building an open source project is not just a technical challenge. It's a social one as well, and politics are a big factor in that.