Nix OS is a GNU / Linux distribution, modern and flexible distribution independently developed intended to improve the management of the state of the system configuration via the Nix package manager.
That combination makes NixOS go too far for new users. That result can be an unintended consequence for a Linux operating system which is based on a very novel design approach.
It is much more complex than other innovative options like Arch Linux which lacks a graphical user interface to manage installations.
NixOS has been on my list of Linux distros to try for a while, for the simple fact that a lot of people have spoken highly of it to me.
About NixOS
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.
NixOS is an independent Linux distribution developed by the NixOS Foundation based in the Netherlands.
Runs in the KDE desktop environment, but it works with its own Nix Package Manager. The latest edition is version 18.09, which was released recently.
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.
Package manager fully assembles operating system components from kernel to software applications and system packages. It also creates highly editable configuration files to meet your specifications.
This means that you create your own detailed list of what you want to install and enable.
NixOS does this through a declarative system configuration model. Describes the system configuration items in a configuration file.
NixOS 18.09 is here
The people behind this project recently announced a new version of its system, in which they reach their new version NixOS 18.09.
Codenamed Jellyfish, NixOS 18.09 will be supported until April 2019. In addition to several new and updated packages, this version has other notable updates.
The main novelty that can be highlighted in this release is that the Nix package manager was updated to version 2.1 which is primarily a bug-fixing version and also reduces memory consumption in certain situations.
The Nix installer will no longer default to multi-user installation for macOS. Still, you can tell the installer to run in multi-user mode.
Platform support: x86_64-linux and x86_64-darwin as always. The support for aarch64-linux is as in the previous versions, it is not equivalent to the x86-64-linux version, but with efforts to achieve parity.
In this new release also We find that the Linux Kernel is still preserved in its version 4.14 LTS while glibc was upgraded from 2.26 to 2.27 and systemd was upgraded from version 237 to version 239.
For what are desktop environments we can highlight that In this new release it comes with Gnome 3.28 or on the KDE Plasma side we can find it in its version 5.13, both environments with the features that those versions have.
Download NixOS 18.09
Finally, if you want to download this Linux distribution to test it, you can go to its official site and get the image in its download section.
Similarly on the site you will find documentation that will help you in the installation process. The link is this.