Help with builtwithnix.org

Development
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I created https://builtwithnix.org/ a while ago. The idea is to get a new entry-point for visitors coming just for Nix.

To encourage the adoption of the site I also created a badge that can be added to project’s READMEs: built with nix. In exchange the site would present good information on how to install Nix and get started.

Tweag also hired a design company to make it look better and after multiple iterations, here is what we came up with (see below).

I am looking for some help to improve the content of the side and to cut the design back into HTML. To participate, ping me here or on IRC.

Nix_WebDesign_FINAL-01
Nix_WebDesign_FINAL-012048×7973 519 KB

repo: GitHub - nix-community/builtwithnix.org: Share the love of Nix [maintainer=@zimbatm]

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Great work @zimbatm as always :slight_smile:

The idea is to get a new entry-point for visitors coming just for Nix.

Defining the audience here is most important, as it will limit the scope of the site. Currently it’s trying to convince the reader that Nix comes with batteries included and is production ready.

With that in mind, my feedback:

[Get Nix]

I wish we tracked these clicks, because I’m sure many people just fail to try Nix as noone knows they have to press “Get Nix” button twice. My recommendation would be to say it supports macOS and Linux and just provide the snippet to install Nix.

Projects built with Nix

This seems like it should be flipped, listing projects that do use Nix and then a small text to invite folks to add it and instructions should point to a repo markdown file or something :slight_smile:

Get started

This one is reaaaally tricky. There are so many ways to start (expression language, basic tooling, packaging for your language X, install NixOS, etc). Most probably it would be best to just provide links for each of those.

nix is a software build tool that works across languages and creates reliable builds.

I love that it doesn’t mention functional languages. It’s an implementation detail for the curious few.

I think the pitch needs some work. Chef team created Runbook Software Automation Tools - Chef Habitat | Chef after I’ve made them uncomfortable and there are a lot of marketing lessons to be learned from their site.

Maybe: Nix is a software packaging ecosystem with reproducible and deterministic builds.

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Thanks for the feedback @domenkozar, lots of good points.

The target public here are developers primarily. We will probably need more landing pages for devops, business people, …

I will try to incorporate as much of your ideas in the next iteration.

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Another good inspiration: https://helm.sh/

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Another generally accessible positive point about nix is that it can incorporate all your projects dependencies, not just the ones of your primary language:

“The polyglot package manager”
“Package management without borders”
“Package management across boundaries”

Edit: I see this is your main first point on builtwithnix.org :slight_smile:

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PR for new design is at New Design by manveru · Pull Request #3 · nix-community/builtwithnix.org · GitHub
I’d like to improve it with all the fancy graphics the original had, but without the psd i’d need a lot more time recreating them, so for now this must suffice.

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I think it’s a good initiative. On the other hand, the colors don’t match (it’s a personal opinion). Why not respect the garphic charter of nixos.org? It is simple but effective.

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According to the designers the color scheme is a bit dated and wanted to refresh it. I am just a developer so I don’t know anything about colors. It might be a bad idea, or we might just grow used to it.