documentation/docs/alpine-desktop-setup/post-install/user-packages.md

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# User packages
The *Nix package manager* is a package manager which allows for user independent packages and a whole lot more, although it is not necessarily minimal.
## Setup
To set `nix` up install its package and activate its service:
```
# apk add nix
# rc-update add nix-daemon default
# rc-service nix-daemon start
```
Do not forget to add your user to the nix group:
```
# adduser <username> nix
```
### Channels
For `nix` to be able to install packages it is necessary to add a few channels/repositories in `~/.nix-channels`:
```
https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-<version> nixpkgs
https://nixos.org/channels/nixpkgs-unstable nixpkgs-unstable
https://github.com/nix-community/nixGL/archive/main.tar.gz nixgl
```
and replace the `version` with the latest version of `nix`. Then perform
```
$ nix-channel --update
```
## Home manager
Nix can be used to manage your `$HOME` with `home-manager`. First install `home-manager` through:
```
$ nix-env -iA nixpkgs.home-manager
```
Now that Nix is up and running utilize the `home.nix` that comes with the [config files](https://docs.bijl.us/alpine-desktop-setup/post-install/config-files/) to set up your home. But before initialising `nix` make sure that you set the correct `<username>` in `home.nix` which is located in `~/.config/home-manager`. Then after changing that simply run this command:
```
$ home-manager switch
```
Thanks to `home-manager` we can easily set up and manage an entire graphical environment with all the necessary packages in one go.
You are now also able to install packages as a user without root from `nixpkgs`:
```
$ nix-env -iA nixpkgs.<package>
```
But for reproducibility it is better to use `home-manager` by declaring them in a `.nix` file and importing that within `home.nix`.
You can also test a package before installing it with `nix-shell -p <program>`.
### NixGL
The `nixGL` channel is necessary to be able to run graphical programs and sessions which are installed through `nix`. It should have been installed with `home-manager`.
Some applications might need Vulkan in which case the program has to be prefixed with:
```
$ nixVulkanIntel <program>
```