It hurts me how close we could be to a single, cross-platform module system for Nix, because I know how awesome it would be.
It's theoretically closer than ever, thanks to stuff like nix-processmgmt and Initware for the BSDs, but it feels like something that keeps coming close only to fade away :'(
But Nix can absolutely do it, and it could be so extremely good!
(There's lots of progress in the Nix world to enjoy and celebrate, as usual, but it's just that type of project that makes you think of all kinds of crazy new things it could do)
I'm not sure what course source means, but I'm down to work on this. I don't really know much about other Unix-likes but I'm willing to stumble through it!
What do you want to start with? FreeBSD + Initware (so that we can reuse the existing NixOS systemd service file generation stuff?)
I think I'll try messing around with them a little on their own to get a feel for what they need in order to run
oh oops, I think I was intending to type "crowd source" but I really met "crowd fund".
I do want to finish my FreeBSD cross PR, but is is hard. We already have NetBSD working, including building the kernel, so I think it is better to start there.
I opened https://github.com/cleverca22/not-os/issues/16 because I think that would be the absolute easiest first step, with the fewest moving parts. But I don't know how kernels, even Linux, are packaged into bootable thingies at all.
NixOS is organized into modules, as are a few community projects modeled after it, like Nix-Darwin and Home Manager. A more unified module system could mean
* NixOS supporting kernels other than Linux
* NixOS supporting init systems other than systemd
* NixOS supporting usermode services (i.e., code sharing between Home Manager modulea and NixOS modules)
* NixOS supporting a 'guest mode' for configuring system services (i.e., NixOS foldinf in Nix-Darwin and supporting similar systemwide service configuration on other foreign operating systems).
In this case, I'm talking mainly about the first, as a starting point, and hinting at the others.
It's theoretically closer than ever, thanks to stuff like nix-processmgmt and Initware for the BSDs, but it feels like something that keeps coming close only to fade away :'(
But Nix can absolutely do it, and it could be so extremely good!
(There's lots of progress in the Nix world to enjoy and celebrate, as usual, but it's just that type of project that makes you think of all kinds of crazy new things it could do)