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I also used to use void-linux for many of these reasons(after arch for a few years). But i have now moved to nixos. It offers me the benefits of replicating system setup(i don't backup my system folders anymore, just my homedir and the nixos configuration files), cleanly removing system-wide packages(no more stale config hanging around) and of course the benefits of using nix for isolated/reproducible builds.

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With Darch (I'm the author), you can use VoidLinux with a replicated setup.

Also, each boot is a clean boot (tempfs overlay). This ensures you capture your OS changes through your build script.

https://godarch.com/

This gives me what I love about Nix (scripted setup) with OSs I love (Arch and Void).

This is cool!

I’m glad you posted this again. I remembered you posting this a week or two ago, but when I got a chance to look into it I couldn’t remember which article or what the name of the project was. I’m a fan of the style of NixOS, and also a fan of Arch, so this is a must-try. Thanks!

I just automated my laptop setup with Salt [1]. I want to keep using that instead of bash scripts (what Darch uses, by the looks of it).

I like the idea of having "images" with tempfs overlay. Is it possible to combine Salt with the image feature from Darch?

[1]: https://github.com/atmoz/workstation-formula

I'm not familiar with Salt, but it looks interesting!

Does Salt allow you to run from an already-built (but minimal) Arch installation? The base Darch images (godarch/arch) is bootstrapped manually.

Would I have to create a godarch/arch-salt image that is bootstrapped from salt files, so that you could further salt the image?

How would salt handle the inheritance that Docker provides?

Yes, have a look at how I bootstrap an Arch installation: https://github.com/atmoz/workstation-formula/blob/master/boo...

All you have to do is install Salt, and then you can run salt-call to apply states.

Yes, Salt states can depend on other states, and you could choose to apply only selected states.

By the sounds of it, you could do this currently.

1) Create a root image for your use that installs Salt in your Arch image. See here: https://github.com/pauldotknopf/darch-recipes/blob/master/ba...

2) For the rest of your recipes/layers, create a script/bash file like you would normally, but just pass execution to Salt.

I'll look into Salt more. Maybe there is a way to extend Darch to support different "executors" to support things like bash/Salt/Puppet/etc.

Nixos was on my list as well, but I never got to try it out properly since void linux won me over.

I'm still using arch as well, but I guess I always try to choose the right distro for my use case.

But I think I will give nixos a spin again some time. I like the idea of the package manager very much

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