So there's a storage backend called Nix, which is (usually) configured by Nix files containing Nix expression language - which the Nix build tool generated from different Nix files written in the Nix domain-specific language? And all of this is used to compose an operating system called NixOS?

Maybe people would stop calling everything Nix if the developers were to stop naming everything Nix?

I feel like if the Nix developers stopped calling everything Nix + x then it'd be significantly less confusing.

I thought this post was going to talk about how people use "*nix" to refer to Unix/Linux/POSIX/BSD/whatever-like systems, but some people just say "nix" instead. Apparently it's even worse than that.

The problem isn't really that "nix" can refer to the tool or the language. (e.g. it's not really a big deal to distinguish Java's compiler, VM, standard library, or language; and I'm not sure why you'd want to use a name other than "Java" for these).

I think it's more ambiguity around statements like "Nix is difficult to use".

The Nix package manager, and the Nix expression language themselves are quite straightforward. (Even if applying these to what you want to do can be difficult).

Whereas, the main repository of packages, Nixpkgs, is often inconsistent or otherwise confusing, and can be difficult to navigate. So you'll want to get something done, and be shit out of luck.

I haven’t worked with Nix and this blogpost has encouraged me to stay clear of it.

https://github.com/NixOS/nix.dev/issues/275

I've never seen good names emerge out of committees. Particularly ones that are formed years after the original naming mistakes were made.

stop NAMING everything "Nix".

So nix Nix?