Jono Finger:
This is my perspective on using Nix (the OS, the package manager, and the language) as a main driver for the past 2 years. I have gone to conferences, engaged the community, donated, submitted bug reports, converted my home servers, and probably spent hundreds of hours in Nix configs. I consider myself well versed, but certainly no expert.
TLDR: In its current state (2025), I don’t generally recommend desktop use of Nix(OS), even for seasoned Linux users.
That’s a pretty strong summary, but I’m not sure I’d take this post as general advice. It’s detailed, and documents Jono’s experience, but with any niche system like NixOS you’re going to run into paper cuts. The specific paper cuts will vary by person based on what they do with their computer, as will their threshold for tolerating them.
To be clear, I love Nix and have learned a lot from it. I am not giving up on it, but its time for me to take a break and scale back my all-in attitude.
In this case it seems Jono reached their paper cut threshold, which is totally reasonable. Some people will push through because they want the benefits despite the friction, others will drop off earlier. If you’re thinking of trying out NixOS I think this post is worth a read, but I wouldn’t let you stop you from trying it out.