| 10 Sep 2025 |
|  SomeoneSerge (back on matrix) changed their display name from SomeoneSerge (@nixcon & back on matrix) to SomeoneSerge (back on matrix). | 00:37:53 |
 matthewcroughan | Is there a community x86 builder with lots of cores? | 14:32:52 |
 Ihar Hrachyshka | $ ssh remote-linux-x86-builder 'cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep vendor_id | wc -l'
24
| 14:34:34 |
| matthewcroughan changed their display name from matthewcroughan @ nixcon to matthewcroughan. | 14:41:21 |
 emily | please do not use all the cores | 15:11:39 |
| emily | at least without regularly monitoring to see if anyone else is | 15:11:49 |
|  connor (burnt/out) (UTC-8) changed their display name from connor (he/him) (UTC+2) to connor (he/him) (UTC-7). | 22:20:38 |
| 11 Sep 2025 |
|  @x12:matrix.org joined the room. | 08:34:36 |
| @x12:matrix.org | Hi,
I’ve created a small application using AI that can help new NixOS users generate configuration files.
Let me know if you think this could be a useful tool, or if it’s more form than substance:
https://github.com/teo693/nixos_config_gen | 10:31:01 |
 Winter | i do not trust any LLM to do an effective job with anything Nix related, unfortunately(?) any examples i've seen just show that they have no idea in the world about what they're doing, and just make things worsed | 13:27:49 |
| Winter | * i do not trust any LLM to do an effective job with anything Nix related, unfortunately(?) any examples i've seen just show that they have no idea in the world about what they're doing, and just make things worse | 13:27:52 |
 Preston | I agree. Nix tends to change option names a lot over time and the most reliable source tends to be the actual source of nixpkgs. The other part of nixos in my opinion is figuring out the syntax and the architecture of nixos itself. I find that people don’t tend to not learn when GenAI does everything for them. I’m aware GenAI is a very large and contentious topic right now, but I personally believe it shifts the job of writing and architecting code into code review (great when it works, disastrous when it doesn’t). MIT also did a study finding similar effects on learning and retaining information https://www.media.mit.edu/articles/a-i-s-effects-on-the-brain/.
Overall, very cool, and I think there’s potential, but I also think that the tool may need to help step people through what it’s doing so it can be a tool for learning not just click a button, pay 100$, and you have a “working” app or OS for about 3 weeks. | 13:39:06 |
 K900 | I looked a bit, and sorry, but it's terrible | 13:42:00 |
| K900 | Lots of outdated data | 13:42:04 |
| K900 | Lots of weird copy/pasted nonsense | 13:42:26 |
| K900 | In a lot of places it's just objectively wrong not even on Nix things | 13:44:34 |
| K900 | But general Python/Linux understanding | 13:44:48 |
| Preston | As a suggestion, I would probably integrate some form of the NixOS wiki or some other tutorial or learning tool in your generator. Most people in this room and the NixOS community in general are probably going to have similar opinions on GenAI with regards to nix; and most people are not trying to discourage you either, we just haven’t seen good nix code come from GenAI due to the scope of NixOS catering to a wide population of users | 13:46:27 |
| K900 | I have never seen good code come from GenAI full stop | 13:46:51 |
| Preston | I seen a good Hello World lol | 13:47:18 |
 Austin Horstman | Sure you have, you just don't know it because it wasn't bad. | 13:47:22 |
| K900 | I'm sure I've seen good code that was initially generated by an LLM, but then audited and cleaned up by a human | 13:48:04 |
| K900 | I'm talking specifically about raw, "vibe coded", if you will, LLM output | 13:48:16 |
| Preston | In reply to @prestonh:matrix.org
As a suggestion, I would probably integrate some form of the NixOS wiki or some other tutorial or learning tool in your generator. Most people in this room and the NixOS community in general are probably going to have similar opinions on GenAI with regards to nix; and most people are not trying to discourage you either, we just haven’t seen good nix code come from GenAI due to the scope of NixOS catering to a wide population of users I’d also like to say that I definitely don’t speak for literally everyone. This is mainly my opinion of what I’ve seen generally | 13:48:21 |
 redbeardymcgee | AI: I'm the idiot so you can feel smart correcting me, even though you're also wrong. | 13:49:21 |
| redbeardymcgee | when you sense AI, run away | 13:49:53 |
 toonn | Yep, I disagree about discouraging them, for example. IMO, please don't LLM anything. It's a waste of resources. | 13:49:58 |
| @x12:matrix.org | Wow, you really roasted me here.
Unfortunately, I don’t know how to write programs like this. I kind of understand how they’re supposed to work and what they should do, which is why I’m using AI.
The idea for the app came from the fact that a few days ago I installed NixOS myself, and, well… long story short, I had a hard time figuring out the config.
That’s where the idea came from — a quick app that can more or less show me what I can do with it and in what format.
It’s not a finished project for the public, more like a template with an idea — a little helper for getting into the world of NixOS for new users 🙂 | 13:57:37 |
| K900 | You may be interested in https://github.com/snowfallorg/nixos-conf-editor | 13:58:12 |
| K900 | If you're looking for something that does a similar thing, but more correctly | 13:58:22 |
