Usually, I prefer manually installing the packages needed for getting started with a new language or technlogy.

I avoid using distro package managers since they tend to be a bit outdated in this regard, and specialised package managers like SDKMAN! seem overkill for one or more packages. Exceptions being languages with excellent tooling and version management like Rust or Ocaml.

I’ve been doing this for a while and was wondering what the general consensus is

Edit: Thanks for your replies everyone! I’ve decided to stick with my distro package manager.

  • @Shareni@programming.dev
    2•8 months ago

    maybe it wouldn’t be as wonky as the AUR since it’s Nix at least

    That’s for sure, since nix handles dependencies a lot better than pacman. But I meant that due to the sheer size of nixpkgs, and the way you can add a repo to your flakes, there’s no real need for it. But that’s just pure speculation.

    I think a sensible progression is: nix + home-manager -> flakes -> develop -> nixOS

    You build on previous knowledge without getting overwhelmed. I tried using guixos without ever using guix or nix, and it’s really not nice when you have to spend a week trying to figure out how to do something that takes you 5 mins in a regular distro. It even took me a few attempts to get started with nix simply because the docs are abysmal, almost all info is on nixos, and home-manager is rarely mentioned.