this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2023
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I've heard of the advantages of using them but still not entirely sure what they're actually used for? What situation would call for using a flake?
For distributing software (nixpkgs is a flake and many projects have flakes), replacing channels (again, nixpkgs is a flake) or managing configs (check out my repo)
So the only use of flakes is for packaging software? Haven't started packaging software for NixOS yet only managing my PC
No, it's also for your system to use locked versions of deps, so if you git clone you get a
flakes.lockas well with all the versions. When you install from a git repo you get the same system againSo it's a way to ensure you always get the exact same version of dependencies?