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README.md
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@ -3,21 +3,35 @@
This is a repository that implements liminalOS, my personal Linux distribution
based on [NixOS](https://nixos.org/).
> **lim·i·nal**
>
> 1. between or belonging to two different places, states, etc.
The goal of liminalOS is to allow my computing environment to exist in different
places (computers) at the same time, without the minor disparities, issues, and
inconsistencies that arise from traditional approaches such as scripting. This
works exceptionally well, demonstrated by the fact that I have the exact same
environment across three separate machines, spanning two completely different
CPU architectures.
Traditionally, we expect to configure each of our computers separately. We have
a general idea of the programs, settings, and minor tweaks that we like to make
on every computer, but we have to manually set all of these up. Many Unix
hackers have therefore created sprawling installation scripts to manage their
various systems so they can be deployed in a predictable manner each time. Of
course, scripts are still heavily dependent on environment and prone to
breakage. When they inevitably break, the system is left in a malformed state,
where some setup actions have been taken and others have not, and it is up to
the system administrator to fix the failing script and ensure the system is set
up properly.
hackers have thus created sprawling installation scripts to manage their various
systems so they can be deployed in a predictable manner each time. Of course,
scripts are still heavily dependent on environment and prone to breakage. When
they inevitably break, the system is left in a malformed state, where some setup
actions have been taken and others have not, and it is up to the system
administrator to fix the failing script and ensure the system is set up
properly. Also, updating existing machines and rolling back to previous states
is a separate, even more difficult issue to solve with this approach.
In essence, the primary failure of setup scripts is that they are _imperative_ -
they must specify precisely _how_ to set up the system, down to minute details,
whereas in a _declarative_ approach, the user can simply specify what the system
_should look like_, and abstractions take care of the _how_.
_should look like_, and abstractions take care of the _how_. This is what NixOS
does, and it gives you remote syncing, versioning (via `git`), and rollbacks
_for free_.
NixOS provides the key tools for reliably deploying systems - namely, a _purely
functional_ package manager that's reproducible by default and the necessary
@ -32,16 +46,6 @@ configuration with NixOS. Specific configuration necessary to adjust
hardware-specific details between each machines are isolated to the
[hosts](./hosts) directory.
> **lim·i·nal**
>
> 1. between or belonging to two different places, states, etc.
The goal of liminalOS is to allow my computing environment to exist in different
places at the same time, without the twiddling and settings syncing and minor
disparities that arise from traditional approaches. This works exceptionally
well, demonstrated by the fact that I have the exact same environment across
three separate machines, spanning two completely different CPU architectures.
## Installation guide
TBD. May use `deploy-rs` or the in-house