I started using NixOS sort of randomly - I wanted a SteamOS-esque experience for my gaming handheld, and Jovian for NixOS seemed like one of the best options for that at the time.
I like that it's about as close to the SteamOS experience that you can get in a third party distribution, and I like that everything is modular (so you could pick whatever desktop you want to pair it with).
It's weird that _everything_ is configuration in Nix. Little stuff like changing your timezone seems to require a NixOS rebuild (which requires a keyboard). GUI settings clash with the Nix way of doing things.
Dunno if you’re aware, but there’s also Fedora’s Atomic Desktop, which is actually more similar to Steam OS, as far as I can tell. Built on top is Universal Blue, which includes an actual Steam OS remix called “Bazzite”.
Conceptually, it is very different from NixOS, with image-based updates and all.
When I started down this path in November, there wasn't a clear choice between Bazzite and NixOS. Seems like a lot of people have chosen Bazzite, but since I have Nix working, I don't really have an incentive to change.
> Little stuff like changing your timezone seems to require a NixOS rebuild (which requires a keyboard).
You mean setting the timezone (going and writing `time.timeZone = "whatever";`)? Because actually doing the rebuild (`nixos-rebuild switch`) would be easy enough to make a button for if you wanted (just make a .desktop file that runs the rebuild command).
I like that it's about as close to the SteamOS experience that you can get in a third party distribution, and I like that everything is modular (so you could pick whatever desktop you want to pair it with).
It's weird that _everything_ is configuration in Nix. Little stuff like changing your timezone seems to require a NixOS rebuild (which requires a keyboard). GUI settings clash with the Nix way of doing things.