Explore a conference talk from the 38th Chaos Communication Congress (38C3) introducing sixos, a two-year project creating a nixpkgs-based operating system that replaces systemd with skarnet's s6 supervisor. Learn how sixos addresses concerns about systemd's monolithic design and its impact on the UNIX philosophy while maintaining compatibility with nixpkgs. Discover the innovative approach of using the infuse combinator instead of NixOS modules, allowing services to be treated similarly to packages in nixpkgs. Understand how sixos retains beneficial NixOS features like atomic activation of immutable configurations while implementing ownerboot hardware support that versions and manages all mutable firmware as part of the system configuration. Gain insights into real-world applications, including deployment across workstations, servers, routers, and a large-scale buildfarm, demonstrating the practical viability of this systemd alternative.
Overview
Syllabus
38C3 - sixos: a nix os without systemd
Taught by
media.ccc.de