Building NixOS using Nixtamal

NixOS represents the natural progression of Nix, allowing for the reliable, reproducible, and cross-machine building of software. Instead of just creating standalone software, it enables the creation of an entire operating system with similar guarantees, such as the ability to roll back from bad states. However, beginners often struggle with the nix-channel command, which can lead to drift and make it difficult to reproduce builds across multiple machines and teams.

The recommended solution is input pinning, which can start with simple commands like builtins.fetchTarball and evolve into more complex input pinner systems like Nixtamal. Nixtamal offers unique features and does not rely on experimental or unsound features. The post introduces system.nix, a new entry point in NixOS, which simplifies setting up a system entrypoint.

The article demonstrates building a QEMU image for a virtual machine called "vm" using system.nix, Home Manager, and Nixtamal, showcasing the power of NixOS's declarative configuration. NixOS's declarative configuration allows for easy tracking of changes over time, and the article highlights the potential of using alternative version control systems (VCS) beyond Git.