Can we collect ‘testimonials’ on Nix for the 20th anniversary post?
Because Nix is blowing up recently, a lot of people think it’s a much newer project than it is. Because it has somewhat infamous rough edges, a lot of people emphasize aspects of the ecosystem’s perceived immaturity. Because Nix spawns endless new applications, extensions, and reworkings, many longtime community members are eagerly focused on the future.
For all of those reasons, I think some 20th anniversary media would be a great place for community celebrations of all the ways that Nix has already proven useful, and for many of us, even irresistible. I think a lot of folks would be happy to contribute some statements of pride on the one hand and gratitude on the other.
Maybe there could be a few categories like
stories about things users were surprised or delighted to discover they could achieve with Nix
praise for the community or stories about positive community interactions
retrospectives on the positive and exciting aspects of Nix’s trajectory by longtime users and contributors
stories about the first time one used Nix
stories about the first time one ‘got it’ with respect to the Nix paradigm
stories/statements celebrating projects that were created in part because of Nix— either to work with it or that were inspired by it in some way (crucially Guix, but also pnpm, Denxi, and others)
stories about research based on Nix or citing work on Nix