I’m currently using Manjaro with i3 and no desktop environment. The problems with Manjaro as well as the lack of cohesiveness and missing features from not having a DE are prompting me to switch distributions. This isn’t the point of the post but I want to keep the i3 workflow but achieve DE level (gnome level ideally) of polish and ease of use. If you have any recommendations for doing this shoot them my way.
Anyway, the two options I’m thinking of are fedora and nix. Fedora is a safe choice I think, I know what I’m going to get. Nix is really tempting. The idea that I can reproduce my system with one file is very tantalizing considering I already keep track of my dot files with git. My concerns about nix are regarding ease of use, learning curve, and polish. Is it wise to invest the time into learning something so niche like how to configure everything with nix, a skill that isn’t portable to any other distro? I’m not quite sure.
Also if anyone has tips for making switching distros easier I’d appreciate it.
Edit: I ended up choosing fedora. I added the pop shell for tiling and this workspace indicator extension. I only set it up yesterday but I’m very excited it seems like an incredible system.
I’d suggest seriously considering nixos. I just now made the switch so I might change my mind of course. But so far really impressed and I feel I’m just getting into the good stuff.
I also prefer using i3 and polishing the system myself, and considering I maintain two different systems with almost identical configurations nixos seems fantastic.
I started with installing nixos in a vm and started tinkering. When I had a decent system set up I installed it on my next system. It took me less then 30 minutes to be up and running with the same software and configurations. Only had to make a few driver additions and kernel settings.
Took me a couple of hours reading up and checking different configs. I recommend reading https://zero-to-nix.com