NixOS & Flox: Open Source Innovation and Sustainable Community Growth

Welcome and Introduction (0s)

Reconnecting and Updates (21s)

• The host welcomes viewers to Open Source Friday and expresses excitement about having a guest they met last year at the Heav conference from the NixOS Foundation, Ronnie, also known as Ron, a NixOS contributor (1m3s).
• The host mentions that it's nice to meet Ronnie again and is super excited to have him on the show (1m11s).
• Ronnie thanks the host for having him and expresses his own excitement about being on the show (1m19s).

Overview of Nix and NixOS (1m24s)

• Nix is a large open-source package repository, universally supported by the Nix community and its contributors (2m36s).
• Nix has a diverse range of applications and uses, making it relevant to various programming languages, fields of interest in tech, and other areas (2m28s).
• The conversation will cover the details of contributions to the NixOS Foundation, but first, it's essential to provide an overview of Nix for the diverse audience (2m16s).
• A previous conversation about the company Flock, which is built on top of Nix, will be shared, and a demo of the cool things built with Nix will be shown in a future live episode of GHA for Startups (1m44s).
• The live episode will be announced with details on when and where to tune in, and it will feature a demo of the projects built with Nix (2m6s).

NixOS Foundation and Governance (2m44s)

• NixOS has over 120,000 packages, with the Nyx language and NX on top, providing fully reproducible deterministic environments across the stack (2m46s).
• Nyx is considered the first instance in the world to offer such environments, making it a package manager with all the desired features and universalness in one place (2m51s).
• The NixOS project has a solid governance structure, which is important for open-source projects, and is managed by the NixOS Foundation (3m24s).
• The initial NixOS Foundation was established about three years ago to support the project, keep it running, and help it grow (3m35s).
• The foundation is currently transforming into a more community-led governance structure, involving the assembly, community, and board (3m51s).
• The new governance structure aims to empower the community and is being built up with the help of various stakeholders (3m59s).
• The role within the foundation involves wearing multiple hats, including managing financials, working with partners, and collaborating with teams like GitHub's open-source Community team and AWS teams (4m13s).
• The foundation's work also includes ensuring that projects get funded and core things are brought together, while appreciating the evolution of open-source communities (4m28s).

Community and Collaboration (4m40s)

• Open source projects, including NixOS, have a collaborative and organic growth curve, where a project forms, and the community hacks on it, eventually requiring governance that transforms into community-based governance over time (4m40s).
• NixOS is currently transforming into community-based governance, with the assembly working on the initial draft of the values, which is a significant milestone (5m2s).
• The community is active, with opportunities for people to interact with the core team through various channels, including the ORS page and social media instances (5m19s).
• NixOS has a wide range of use cases, from big companies like Google to individual users, and is utilized by various teams, including the infra team and the marketing team (5m28s).
• The community values diversity and welcomes contributions from people with different skill sets, not just engineers, but also those with skills in design, organization, and event planning (6m1s).
• The community is focused on being inclusive and welcoming, with a central focus on diversity, as evident on the project's page (6m22s).
• The community uses open source communication platforms, including Matrix for messaging and Zulip for internal communication and collaboration (7m7s).
• The community is encouraged to share their stories and experiences with NixOS, and the project is open to collaborations and contributions from various individuals and organizations (6m37s).

Sustainability and Future Plans (7m24s)

• NixOS is growing and reaching a high level of adoption, going through the phases of a successful open source project, and the next phase is addressing the challenges that come with success, such as scaling infrastructure and managing costs (8m11s).
• The NixOS foundation is working on creating a sustainable project that can be handed over to the next generation, thinking about the next five to ten years, and considering the values and community relationships that will ensure the project's long-term viability (8m43s).
• The foundation is exploring ways to create a sustainable NixOS, including considering the relationship between the community and projects based on NixOS that can potentially fund and help fund NixOS in the long term (9m3s).
• The growth of NixOS has led to increased demands on infrastructure, including storage, transfers, and build farms, which are "exploding" and require more thoughtful management to ensure sustainability (8m23s).
• The foundation is shifting its focus from growing NixOS and promoting it to thinking about how to create a sustainable project that can be maintained and operated by future generations (8m46s).
• The foundation is considering the values that will serve as the baseline for creating a sustainable NixOS and is exploring ways to ensure the project's long-term viability (8m57s).

Introduction to Flox (9m16s)

• Sustainability is an important topic, and companies using open-source products and wanting to give back play a crucial role in it, with Flox being one such company that aims to make NixOS more accessible to a wider set of people (9m16s).
• Flox was founded by its co-founder, who previously led DevOps products for Facebook and worked on developer productivity and tooling, and Michael, who was the head of build and release for a huge firm out of New York (9m51s).
• The idea for Flox came about when its co-founder was building a project and realized how complex it was to get started and maintain it without even writing code, and Michael had a similar experience trying to bring NixOS to his firm (10m3s).
• Michael's attempt to bring NixOS to his firm was unsuccessful, so he built a team and a layer that became Flox to make NixOS more accessible to people who don't know the language and how to write expressions (10m42s).
• Flox aims to make NixOS more accessible to a wider set of people by providing a flow that is super intuitive and integrated into the things people already know how to use today (11m22s).
• Flox has Nix escape hatches inside, which allows users to keep graduating and eventually become Nix contributors and go deeper into the Nix ecosystem (11m33s).
• The co-founder of Flox has a unique role, having previously worked on the foundation of the Nix language, and now working on making it more accessible to a wider audience (12m0s).

Exploring the Relationship Between Flox and Nix (12m9s)

• The relationship between Flox, the company, and NixOS is explored, with a focus on understanding how the two intersect and the dynamics at play (12m9s).
• The question is posed to gain insight into the connection between Flox and NixOS, considering the importance of sustainability and community awareness (12m13s).
• The inquiry aims to gather information that can be useful for others working on or building upon open-source projects, particularly in terms of understanding how to maintain a sustainable relationship with the community (12m32s).
• The goal is to understand how companies like Flox can give back to the open-source community and what that relationship might look like in practice (12m38s).

Core Ideology and Principles of Flox (12m42s)

• Flocks is built on top of NixOS, and as a result, everything that goes into making NixOS successful is a core priority for the company, including hiring, building, and operating in the open space (12m42s).
• The NixOS community is considered the core, and making NixOS successful is the first principle that comes first, with Flocks being incentivized to contribute to NixOS's success (13m3s).
• Flocks is built on top of NixOS, and as a result, NixOS needs to be successful, with Flocks focusing on building things that go beyond what NixOS is handling or looking at, particularly in the Enterprise domain (13m14s).
• The focus of Flocks is on addressing the needs of big companies that require shipping features, but not necessarily the needs of running NixOS on a satellite or other edge open-source projects (13m28s).
• A core ideology of Flocks is to never compete with NixOS, and everything they do is built on top of and in support of NixOS (13m45s).

Community and Contribution in Open Source (13m48s)

• Building a product that benefits the community and open source projects is crucial, even if it means creating "escape hatches" that allow users to move beyond the initial product (13m49s).
• The goal is to empower the community and support their efforts, rather than competing or replicating them, which can lead to redundancy and hinder progress (14m20s).
• Companies can build products responsibly by prioritizing the betterment of open source and pushing forward progress, rather than solely focusing on their own interests (14m41s).
• This approach can lead to a "raising all ships" method, where the community and open source projects benefit as a whole, rather than individual companies trying to outdo each other (14m38s).
• When building a company, it's essential to consider how to contribute to the progress of open source projects and the community, rather than just focusing on personal gain (14m56s).
• Joining the discussion and contributing to the community is possible, and understanding the importance of responsible building and community support is key (15m10s).

Resources and Advice for New Contributors (15m18s)

• The NixOS community maintains various resources to lower the barrier to entry for new contributors, including online tutorials and weekly meetups, making it an accessible place for those hesitant to contribute to open source (15m33s).
• Nix.dev is a great starting resource for new contributors, built and maintained by the community, providing everything needed to get started (16m4s).
• The NixOS community lives and breathes on the NixOS Discourse and Matrix channel, where help and support can be found, and contributors can connect with others (16m18s).
• Contributing to NixOS is not limited to engineers or writing code; there are various ways to contribute, such as designing logos, helping with events like NixCon, or other non-technical tasks (16m36s).
• The community welcomes contributions from anyone, regardless of their background or skills, and values the power of community and open-source collaboration (16m47s).
• There are two NixOS conferences, one in Europe and one in the US, which will take place next year, providing opportunities for contributors to connect and learn from each other (17m5s).

Upcoming Nix Conferences (17m7s)

• There are upcoming Nix conferences, with the European one taking place in October and the US one in March, which is partnered with SCALE (Southern Linux Expo) (17m8s).
• The US conference is collocated with SCALE, which is a long-running event led by an individual named Elon, and the first year of this partnership was in 2024 (17m13s).
• The event was successful, and it is expected to happen again next year, with announcements, calls for proposals (CFPs), and calls for sponsors to be made in the coming months (17m30s).
• The next Nix conference is expected to be a great opportunity for the community to come together, and attendees are encouraged to keep an eye out for updates and announcements (17m39s).
• The speaker is personally excited about the upcoming conference and is making an effort to attend, even finishing a conference in Berlin on Sunday to make it to the Tuesday opening (18m23s).
• The speaker attended the previous year's conference and found it to be a great event for like-minded individuals in open source projects to come together, share ideas, and collaborate (18m33s).

Excitement for GitHub Universe (18m42s)

• GitHub Universe is an exciting conference that brings together people from various programs, including the startup team and the open source Community team, providing opportunities to meet helpful individuals and learn about relevant topics such as open source, software development, infrastructure, and communities, with a focus on AI this year (18m43s).
• The conference will cover AI topics relevant to the speaker's domain, and they are excited to see what will happen as GitHub Universe approaches, with new features and functionality being launched, such as GitHub models (19m6s).
• The speaker appreciates GitHub's commitment to giving access to open source models, like GitHub models, and values the maintainer community, who are essential to the company's success (19m35s).
• The speaker invites maintainers to talk to them at GitHub Universe, promising a chill conversation, cool swag, and coffee, and an opportunity to network with other open source maintainers (20m7s).
• The private conference for maintainers is a therapeutic experience, allowing them to connect with like-minded individuals who care deeply about open source (20m37s).
• The speaker mentions two upcoming events: a call to action for NixOS users to collaborate and a "NixOS in the wild" series, which showcases companies or individuals using NixOS (21m3s).
• The speaker also mentions that they are helping open source repositories get started with NixOS-related things on the Flox side (21m27s).

Final Thoughts and Call to Action (21m42s)

• Maintainers and contributors of open source projects should strive to make the barrier to entry for new contributors as low as possible, making it easier for others to get involved and contribute to their projects (21m48s).
• Viewers are encouraged to check out Flox and explore the cool things that can be built on top of NixOS (22m2s).
• The GitHub Universe conference is a great opportunity for open source maintainers, contributors, and builders to meet and connect with fellow community members (22m15s).
• GitHub Universe has a casual and welcoming atmosphere, making it a unique conference experience compared to other events (23m0s).
• The conference has a strong community feel, making it easy for attendees to approach and connect with others, including speakers and organizers (23m53s).
• The coaching and organization of the conference have received positive feedback from speakers, who appreciate the opportunity to learn from new sessions and connect with others (23m37s).
• GitHub Universe is a great place to meet new people and make friends, with a more approachable and less corporate atmosphere compared to larger conferences (23m50s).
• The conference is a great opportunity for open source enthusiasts to come together, learn from each other, and have a positive experience (24m1s).