[Nix-dev] Usability: Nixpkg > NixOS

[stewart mackenzie]

For me the crux is the nix expression language, everything revolves
around this, this is where real tangible value (read as eye opening,
toe curling power) is obtained.

It might be a good idea creating a nixmake.com or xmake.com site which
has a page for most popular languages detailing documentation on the
subject. The name nixmake is close to make, cmake and every other make
system. It's not alien and that name is humble enough to be installed
on a programmer's system.

Promote nixmake as a viable language level build system, every
language needs such a system. Now here's the key point. It's a helluva
lot easier getting into nixos, nixpkgs, hydra, nixops once you learn
the nix expression language, make the nixmake concept the gateway
drug, as you're proposing a nice solution to a problem close to many
programmer's daily work, shortly they end up seeing the whole picture.

Now when I say make nix as a language package manager, I mean do
things like this: https://github.com/fractalide/nixcrates (I
contracted the awesome https://nixcloud.io team to make nixcrates for
Fractalide, btw they also made https://nixcloud.io/tour/?id=1 so this
tour of nix should have a prominent place on this hypothetical
nixmake.com). Hence programmers would write default.nix files instead
of CMakeLists Makefile Cargo.toml etc files.

Get nix to schew language level build systems and construct arguments
for the different compilers directly.

my 2c worth

kr/sjm