this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2026
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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NixOS and Guix System! I'm currently using Guix System + Nix (via home-manager, mostly) but you can also do it the other way around.
NixOS uses systemd, but Guix System does not. They are both awesome though. Absolutely my favourite distros. Incredibility flexible, and reproducibility and "declarativeness" are core concepts. The only negative is that they both have quite a steep learning curve, compared to other distros.
Cool, added Guix system to the list with Nix.
I wanna use Guix but I worry about hardware compatibility, when I tried to run it the installer said my hardware wasn't 100% compatible and recommended me not to continue.
Yeah, "unfortunately" since Guix is a GNU project, they don't package the upstream Linux kernel, just linux-libre, which removes a lot of binary blobs. Great if you want a fully free OS, not so great if you need drivers only available in the mainline kernel.
The practical solution to this is to use the channel nonguix, which packages mainline Linux for Guix. You can follow the instructions for nonguix to create a guix ISO with the regular Linux kernel, then make sure your installed system uses that same kernel.
It's not hard to do, but if one doesn't have the inclination I'd just recommended using NixOS. :-)
Right now and using NixOS and I'm pretty happy with it, it suffers from There's More Than One Way To Do It and there are so many options that do the same and the documentation isn't great.
When I finally made my base flake.nix, easy peasy! But the difficulty curve is pretty steep.
Someone else was saying to go for Flakes
Yeah, it's been an ongoing debate whether the old Nix style or the newer Flakes are a better approach. I don't really know that much about it, but thus far I definitely like using Flakes more
So Guix is the old stye?
No no, Nix has two ways of handling configurations, where Flakes are the new style, but still experimental. Guix just have one way of handling configurations.
If you're new I suggest not using flakes. You can always switch to them when you learn how to maintain NixOS.
I've played with Nix twice over a week each time. I'm not afraid at all, but I suppose at this point I'll decide which distro by dice roll.