NixOS 20.09 arrives with updates of packages, environments and more

Some days ago the release of the new version of NixOS 20.09 was presented in which it is present a series of package updates quite important, of which the update of the desktop environments used by the distribution stands out, among others.

For those who are unfamiliar with NixOS, they should know that is a modern and flexible GNU / Linux distribution independently developed intended to improve the management of the state of the system configuration via the Nix package manager.

Nix OS started as a research project a few years ago and it has become a functional operating system with a rigid learning curve to manage system services.

Runs in the KDE desktop environment, but it works with its own Nix package manager.

Nix OS has an unusual approach- It is aimed at modernizing system configuration management. The entire operating system, including the kernel, applications, system packages, and configuration files, is created by the Nix Package Manager.

Nix isolates all his packages from each other. Uses its own file structure process too. For example, this distribution does not have the / bin, / sbin, / lib, or / usr directories in its file structure. All packages are kept in / nix / store instead.

Other notable innovations include reliable upgrades, rollbacks, reproducible system configurations, a source-based model with binaries, and multi-user package management.

Main news of NixOS 20.09

This new version s7349 packages were added, 8181 packages were removed, and 14442 were updated packages.

Of the updated versions of the most outstanding components of the distribution except the Linux Kernel which is still in version 5.4, we can find gcc 9.3.0, glibc 2.31, table 20.1.7, Python 3.8, PHP 7.4, MariaDB 10.4, Zabbix 5.0. 

Regarding desktop environments whate have been updated are KDE to version 5.18.5 along with KDE Applications 20.08.1 and GNOME to version 3.36. In addition, we can find the support for Cage Composite Server and that the Сinnamon 4.6 environment has been added.

Another change that stands out is that a module was added for the rapid implementation of a videoconference server based on Jitsi Meet.

Added a Podman Sandbox Container Toolkit module that can be used to replace the Docker command line toolkit.

Added support for LCD screens built into keyboards and Logitech speakers, plus a module has been added to optimally configure high pixel density (HiDPI) displays.

The GRUB module has added support for password-protected access to start menu items.

Added support for Trusted Platform Module 2 and Yubikey tokens, as well as support for doas (alternative to sudo) and support for kubernetes distribution k3s.

Finally of the new services added, we can find 61:

  • hardware.system76.firmware-daemon.enable 
  • hardware.uinput.enable 
  • hardware.video.hidpi.enable
  • hardware.wooting.enable 
  • hardware.xpadneo.enable
  • programs.hamster.enable 
  • programs.steam.enable
  • security.doas.enable 
  • security.tpm2.enable 
  • boot.initrd.network.openvpn.enable 
  • boot.enableContainers 
  • virtualization.oci-containers.containers 
  • virtualization.podman.enable 
  • services.ankisyncd.enable 
  • services.bazarr.enable 
  • services.biboumi.enable 
  • services.blockbook-frontend
  • services.cage.enable
  • services.convos.enable 
  • services.engelsystem.enable 
  • services.espanso.enable
  • services.foldingathome.enable 
  • services.gerrit.enable 
  • services.go-neb.enable 
  • services.hardware.xow.enable xow
  • services.hercules-ci-agent.enable 
  • services.jicofo.enable Jitsi
  • services.jirafeau.enable 
  • services.jitsi-meet.enable 
  • services.jitsi-videobridge.enable
  • services.jupyterhub.enable 
  • services.k3s.enable
  • services.magic-wormhole-mailbox-server.enable 
  • services.malcontent.enable 
  • services.matrix-appservice-discord.enable 
  • services.mautrix-telegram.enable 
  • services.mirakurun.enable 
  • services.molly-brown.enable 
  • services.mullvad-vpn.enable 
  • services.ncdns.enable
  • services.nextdns.enable 
  • services.nix-store-gcs-proxy 
  • services.onedrive.enable 
  • services.pinnwand.enable 
  • services.pixiecore.enable 
  • services.privacyidea.enable
  • services.quorum.enable
  • services.robustirc-bridge.enable 
  • services.rss-bridge.enable 
  • services.rtorrent.enable
  • services.smartdns.enable
  • services.sogo.enable 
  • services.teeworlds.enable 
  • services.torque.mom.enable
  • services.torque.server.enable 
  • services.tuptime.enable 
  • services.urserver.enable
  • services.wasabibackend.enable 
  • services.yubikey-agent.enable 
  • services.zigbee2mqtt.enable 

Finally, if you are interested in knowing more about this new version of NixOS 20.09, you can consult the details, as well as the documentation and distribution details in following link

Download NixOS 20.09

For those who are interested in being able to download this Linux distribution to install or test it under a virtual machine, you can go to the official site of this and in its download section obtain the image.

The size of the full installation image with KDE is 1.2 GB for GNOME it is 1.3 GB and the reduced version of the console is 571 MB. Similarly on the site you will find documentation that will help you in the installation process. The link is this.


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