66 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
66 lines
2.1 KiB
Markdown
# User packages
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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).
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## Setup
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To set `nix` up install its package and activate its service:
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```
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# apk add nix
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# rc-update add nix-daemon default
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# rc-service nix-daemon start
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```
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Don't forget to add your user to the nix group:
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```
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# adduser <username> nix
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```
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### Channels
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For `nix` to be able to install packages it is necessary to add a few channels:
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```
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$ nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixos-23.11 nixpkgs
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$ nix-channel --add https://nixos.org/channels/nixpkgs-unstable nixpkgs-unstable
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$ nix-channel --add https://github.com/nix-community/nixGL/archive/main.tar.gz nixgl && nix-channel --update
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$ nix-channel --update
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```
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## Usage
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Nix can be used to manage your `$HOME` with `home-manager`. First install `home-manager` through:
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```
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$ nix-env -iA nixpkgs.home-manager
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```
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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 our home for us. 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:
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```
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$ home-manager switch
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```
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And thanks to `home-manager` we can easily set up and manage an entire graphical enviroment with all the necessary packages in one go.
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You are now also able to install packages as a user without root from `nixpkgs`:
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```
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$ nix-env -iA nixpkgs.<package>
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```
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But for reproducability it's better to use `home-manager` by declaring them in a `.nix` file and importing that within `home.nix`.
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You can also test a package before installing it with `nix-shell -p <program>`
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### NixGL
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`nixGL` is necessary to be able to run graphical programs and sessions which are installed through `nix`. It should have been installed with `home-manager`.
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Some applications might need vulkan in which case the program has to be prefixed with:
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```
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$ nixVulkanIntel <program>
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```
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