• NixOS 21.11 Available to Download

  NixOS is an independently developed GNU/Linux distribution that aims to improve the state of the art in system configuration management. In NixOS, the entire operating system, including the kernel, applications, system packages and configuration files, are built by the Nix package manager.

  The project’s latest release is NixOS 21.11 which includes the following highlights: “The default Nix version remains at 2.3.16. Nix has not been updated to version 2.4 due to regressions in non-experimental behavior. To upgrade to 2.4, use the nixos-unstable branch or set the nix.package option to either of nixFlakes or nix_2_4 packages. The nixUnstable attribute is a pre-release of Nix 2.5. Read the release notes for more information on upcoming changes. Please help us improve Nix by providing any breakage reports. iptables now uses nf_tables backend. PHP now defaults to PHP 8.0, updated from 7.4. kops now defaults to 1.21.1, which uses containerd as the default runtime. python3 now defaults to Python 3.9, updated from Python 3.8. PostgreSQL now defaults to major version 13.” Further information is available through the project’s release annoucement and in the release notes.

• NixOS 21.11 Released But Its Own Package Manager Is Left Behind Due To Regressions - Phoronix

  NixOS is an original Linux distribution built atop its own unique Nix package manager that is focused on being functional, reliable, and reproducible. The Nix package manager concept is great but somewhat ironic is the new NixOS 21.11 release not even shipping with the latest Nix package manager version due to known regressions.

  NixOS 21.11 released yesterday and rather than shipping with the latest-and-greatest Nix, it's being held back to the latest Nix 2.3 point release by default rather than Nix 2.4. Holding up the default version of Nix was done as "Nix has not been updated to version 2.4 due to regressions in non-experimental behavior."

NixOS 21.11 “Porcupine” is here, but default Nix version remains at 2.3 point release rather than Nix 2.4.

NixOS is a Linux distribution that is entirely different than what one can expect from a regular Linux distro. It’s a Linux distribution which takes a unique approach to package and configuration management, because it’s built around Nix tool. So let me first explain what the NIX tool is.

NIX is a package manager and it could be used on any Linux distribution on top of the distribution package manager. To put things simple, NixOS is an operating system, and Nix is a package manager.

Now, everything in NixOS down to the kernel, is built by the Nix package manager with a declarative functional build language. The whole system configuration: fstab, packages, users, services, firewall, etc., is configured from a global configuration file that defines the state of the system.

• NixOS 21.11 Now Available for Download

  NixOS is a bit different than most Linux distributions, because of a unique approach to package and configuration management. NixOS uses the NIX package manager to build everything…even the kernel. And even the entire system configuration (from fstab, users, services, firewalls, and more) is taken care of from within a single, global configuration file. This one-two punch makes NixOS very complex. In fact, many consider it on the same level as Gentoo.

  In other words, NixOS is not for the faint of heart.

• NixOS and the changing face of Linux operating systems

  A new version of Linux distro NixOS has been released, just one day after a contentious blogpost that asked "Will Nix overtake Docker?"

  For DevOps folk, this was tantamount to clickbait: Nix and Docker are different tools for different jobs, and anyway, it's possible to use Nix to build Docker images.

  The distro, which hit version 21.11 on the last day of November, was built around the purely functional Nix package manager.

In version 21.11 with the name “Porcupine”, the developers of the Linux distribution NixOS, which is based on the NIX package manager, have updated numerous packages, but also made changes under the hood. The distribution is not necessarily suitable for beginners. It creates a certain complexity through the approach of securing every change and thus being able to go back to any status.

The central component, the NIX package management, remains at status 2.3.16, as newer versions have proven to be unstable. Other changes affect iptables, for example, which now works with nf_tables in the backend. The new version also has KDE Plasma on Wayland on board, Gnome has been upgraded to version 41, and PHP to 8.0. Other versions are now Python 3.9, PostgreSQL 13, systemd 249 and OpenSSH 8.8p1.