I hope to switch my home servers from Debian 8 to NixOS or GuixSD. Once that is working, I hope to convince the system managers at work to install Nix or Guix.
I started experimenting with Nix and NixOS 6 weeks ago. 3 weeks ago I switched my focus to Guix and installed guixSD on one of my servers. I found it difficult to determine exactly which parts of the volumminous (and tasty) Guix doc to read and how best to apply GuixSD. FWIW, I experienced the same difficulty with Nix/NixOS. To clarify my thoughts, I made a diagram (guix-ov) to illustrate Guix features that are important to me: 1) Auditable flow of free software from developer site to user environment 2) Automated local package builds 3) Pre-built packages from Hydra 4) The potential of an identical Guix user environment everywhere I intended to show the differences between Guix and GuixSD. But frankly, looking at diagram guix-ov, they seem more alike than not. I think this contributed to my difficulty in figuring out GuixSD. So, made a second diagram (guix-ov2) that I think ... - shows clearly the difference and relationship between Guix and GuixSD - is more modular in appearance and easier to understand - is more descriptive of how the software works - is better aligned with the doc - illustrates the distinction between user and system environments In short, I think diagram guix-ov2 is a more informative way to explain the Guix-verse. I know guix-ov2 does not match the way Guix and GuixSD are currently described. But I believe that if you describe things this way it will be easier for new users to understand and apply Guix and GuixSD. Sidebar: At the moment, the GNU Guix web site focuses mostly on GuixSD. But to test drive Guix, a user must first decide what to download. Perhaps one of these diagrams (with suitable prettyfication) could help a user decide what to download.
guix-ov2.dot
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guix-ov.dot
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