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Thanks! Really helpful comment. Especially this bit:
> People who have really thrived with Nix are often at the intersection of 'FP people' and 'extremely stubborn Linux people'
As an extremely stubborn Linux person, that makes total sense to me. But I also almost never recommend Linux to average folks, because I'm keenly aware how far along certain bell curves I am. I would love it if more advocates reflected on whether the personal characteristic that makes a technology great for them is one that makes it bad for others.
Thanks also for the pointers to projects inspired by Nix. I'll check them out.
That's definitely how it seems to me. The pro-Nix stuff I see is generally about the theory much more than the practice. Which was also my experience with functional languages when their hype cycle was last on the rise.
On the one hand, that's fine. I like ideas, and I think taking an idea and running with it can be really interesting. You can clearly see that in history's various art movements, for example. On the other, for people who are just trying to get things done, it's often alienating and tedious, because the people in the grip of their Big Idea often seem heedless of other perspectives, and frequently can be quite evangelical about it.
Personally, my strategy with Nix, as with the various functional languages, is to keep a distance from it, waiting and seeing. Perhaps it will influence more mainstream projects, bringing the benefits to me without a lot of upheaval. Perhaps I'll have a project that really needs its particular benefits, and so I'll take on the cost of a paradigm switch. But in the meantime, I have stuff to do.