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Guix System RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: Guix System

Guix System


Last Update: 2024-02-02 02:44 UTC


Guix System (formerly Guix System Distribution, or GuixSD) is a Linux-based, stateless operating system that is built around the GNU Guix package manager. The operating system provides advanced package management features such as transactional upgrades and roll-backs, reproducible build environments, unprivileged package management, and per-user profiles. It uses low-level mechanisms from the Nix package manager, but packages are defined as native Guile modules, using extensions to the Scheme language.

Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 184 (44), 6 months: 180 (44), 3 months: 172 (44), 4 weeks: 154 (47), 1 week: 143 (47)

Average visitor rating: 9/10 from 10 review(s).


Guix System Summary
Distribution Guix System (previously GuixSD)
Home Page https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/
Mailing Lists http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/help-guix/http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guix-devel/
User Forums --
Alternative User Forums
Documentation https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual/html_node/GNU-Distribution.htmlhttps://www.gnu.org/software/guix/manual
Screenshots DistroWatch Gallery
Screencasts
Download Mirrors https://www.gnu.org/software/guix/download/
Bug Tracker https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-guix
Related Websites
Reviews 1.0.x: DistroWatch
0.15.0: DistroWatch
Where To Donate, Buy, or Try Donate

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with download links and checksums:
 • 2022-12-20: Distribution Release: Guix System 1.4.0
 • 2021-05-12: Distribution Release: Guix System 1.3.0
 • 2020-11-24: Distribution Release: Guix System 1.2.0
 • 2020-04-15: Distribution Release: Guix System 1.1.0
 • 2019-05-02: Distribution Release: Guix System 1.0.0
 • 2018-12-06: Distribution Release: Guix System Distribution 0.16.0
 • 2018-07-06: Distribution Release: Guix System Distribution 0.15.0
 • 2017-05-22: Distribution Release: Guix System Distribution 0.13.0
 • 2016-12-25: Distribution Release: Guix System Distribution 0.12.0
 • 2016-08-03: Distribution Release: Guix System Distribution 0.11.0
 • 2016-03-29: Distribution Release: Guix System Distribution 0.10.0
 • More Guix System releases...

  Headlines:
 • 2023-04-27 Guix moves toward full source builds
 • 2019-05-20 Guix releases fix for PATH issue
 • More Guix System headlines...

Table Notes and Explanations

(Please refer to the table below.)
  • Select view:
  • To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
  • Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
  • Colour scheme: green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
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Feature 1.4.0 1.3.0 1.2.0 1.0.1
Release Date 2022-12-19 2021-05-12 2020-11-23 2019-05-19
End Of Life        
Price (US$) Free Free Free Free
Image Size (MB) 700-900 600-700 400-500 200-300
Free Download ISO ISO ISO ISO
Installation Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode
Default Desktop        
Package Management Guix Guix Guix Guix
Release Model Fixed Fixed Fixed Fixed
Office Suite -- -- -- --
Processor Architecture i686, x86_64 i686, x86_64 i686, x86_64 i686, x86_64
Init Software Shepherd Shepherd Shepherd Shepherd
Journaled File Systems Btrfs, ext3, ext4 Btrfs, ext3, ext4 Btrfs, ext3, ext4 Btrfs, ext3, ext4
Multilingual en en en en
Asian Language Support        
Full Package List 1.4.0 1.3.0 1.2.0 1.0.1

Full Package List:   Guix System 1.4.0
  Number of packages: 250 (download as TXT)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  •  acl-2.3.1
  •  alsa-lib-1.2.4
  •  alsa-topology-conf-1.2.4
  •  alsa-ucm-conf-1.2.4
  •  alsa-utils-1.2.4
  •  argon2-20190702
  •  ath9k-htc-firmware-1.4.0
  •  attr-2.5.1
  •  avahi-0.8
  •  bash-5.1.8
  •  bash-completion-2.8
  •  bash-minimal-5.1.8
  •  bash-static-5.1.8
  •  bdb-6.2.32
  •  btrfs-progs-6.0.2
  •  bzip2-1.0.8
  •  cairo-1.16.0
  •  connman-1.41
  •  console-setup-1.210
  •  coreutils-8.32
  •  coreutils-minimal-8.32
  •  crda-3.18
  •  cryptsetup-2.3.7
  •  dbus-1.12.20
  •  ddrescue-1.26
  •  diffutils-3.8
  •  disarchive-0.4.0
  •  dosfstools-4.2
  •  e2fsprogs-1.46.4
  •  ed-1.17
  •  elogind-246.10
  •  etc-polkit-1
  •  eudev-3.2.11
  •  expat-2.4.9
  •  f2fs-tools-1.14.0
  •  file-5.39
  •  findutils-4.8.0
  •  flac-1.3.3
  •  fontconfig-minimal-2.13.94
  •  font-dejavu-2.37
  •  font-gnu-freefont-20120503
  •  font-gnu-unifont-15.0.01
  •  freetype-2.10.4
  •  fribidi-1.0.9
  •  fuse-2.9.9
  •  fuse-3.10.5
  •  gawk-5.1.0
  •  gcc-10.3.0-lib
  •  gdbm-1.20
  •  glib-2.70.2
  •  glibc-2.33
  •  glibc-utf8-locales-2.33
  •  gmp-6.2.1
  •  gnutls-3.7.2
  •  gpm-1.20.7
  •  gptfdisk-1.0.9
  •  graphite2-1.3.13
  •  grep-3.6
  •  groff-minimal-1.22.4
  •  grub-2.06
  •  gsasl-2.0.1
  •  guile-3.0.7
  •  guile-3.0.8
  •  guile-avahi-0.4.0-1.6d43caf
  •  guile-bytestructures-1.0.10
  •  guile-colorized-0.1
  •  guile-fibers-1.1.1
  •  guile-gcrypt-0.3.0
  •  guile-git-0.5.2
  •  guile-gnutls-3.7.9
  •  guile-json-3.5.0
  •  guile-json-4.7.1
  •  guile-lib-0.2.7
  •  guile-lzlib-0.0.2
  •  guile-lzma-0.1.1
  •  guile-netlink-1.1.1
  •  guile-newt-0.0.3
  •  guile-parted-0.0.7
  •  guile-readline-3.0.7
  •  guile-semver-0.1.1
  •  guile-sqlite3-0.1.3
  •  guile-ssh-0.15.1
  •  guile-static-stripped-3.0.7
  •  guile-webutils-0.1-0.8541904
  •  guile-zlib-0.1.0
  •  guile-zstd-0.1.1
  •  guix-1.4.0
  •  guix-daemon-1.4.0
  •  guix-icons-0.1
  •  gzip-1.10
  •  harfbuzz-2.8.2
  •  http-parser-2.9.4-1.ec8b5ee
  •  icu4c-69.1
  •  inetutils-2.0
  •  info-reader-6.7
  •  iproute2-5.15.0
  •  iptables-1.8.7
  •  isc-dhcp-4.4.3
  •  iso-codes-4.5.0
  •  iw-5.19
  •  jfsutils-1.1.15
  •  json-c-0.15
  •  kbd-2.5.1
  •  kexec-tools-2.0.23
  •  kmod-29
  •  kmscon-0.0.0-1.01dd0a2
  •  less-590
  •  libaio-0.3.112
  •  libbsd-0.10.0
  •  libcap-2.62
  •  libcbor-0.9.0
  •  libdaemon-0.14
  •  libdatrie-0.2.13
  •  libdrm-2.4.107
  •  libedit-20191231-3.1
  •  libevent-2.1.12
  •  libffi-3.3
  •  libfido2-1.12.0
  •  libgc-8.0.4
  •  libgcrypt-1.8.8
  •  libgit2-1.3.0
  •  libgpg-error-1.42
  •  libice-1.0.10
  •  libidn-1.37
  •  libidn2-2.3.1
  •  libinih-56
  •  libltdl-2.4.6
  •  libmnl-1.0.4
  •  libnftnl-1.2.0
  •  libnl-3.5.0
  •  libntlm-1.6
  •  libogg-1.3.5
  •  libpcap-1.10.1
  •  libpciaccess-0.16
  •  libpipeline-1.5.3
  •  libpng-1.6.37
  •  libpsl-0.21.1
  •  libsamplerate-0.1.9
  •  libseccomp-2.5.3
  •  libsigsegv-2.13
  •  libsm-1.2.3
  •  libsndfile-1.0.30
  •  libssh-0.9.6
  •  libssh2-1.9.0
  •  libtasn1-4.17.0
  •  libthai-0.1.28
  •  libtsm-0.0.0-1.f70e379
  •  libunistring-0.9.10
  •  liburcu-0.13.1
  •  libusb-1.0.24
  •  libvorbis-1.3.7
  •  libx11-1.7.3.1
  •  libxau-1.0.9
  •  libxcb-1.14
  •  libxdmcp-1.1.3
  •  libxext-1.3.4
  •  libxft-2.3.3
  •  libxkbcommon-1.3.0
  •  libxml2-2.9.12
  •  libxmu-1.1.3
  •  libxrender-0.9.10
  •  libxt-1.2.1
  •  linux-libre-6.0.10
  •  linux-libre-headers-5.10.35
  •  linux-pam-1.5.1
  •  locale-2.33
  •  lvm2-2.03.11
  •  lvm2-static-2.03.11
  •  lz4-1.9.3
  •  lzip-1.22
  •  lzlib-1.13
  •  lzo-2.10
  •  mailutils-3.15
  •  man-db-2.10.2
  •  mcron-1.2.1-0.5fd0ccd
  •  mdadm-4.2
  •  mg-20221112
  •  mingetty-1.08
  •  mit-krb5-1.19.2
  •  mozjs-91.13.0
  •  nano-7.0
  •  ncurses-6.2.20210619
  •  net-base-5.3
  •  nettle-3.7.3
  •  net-tools-1.60-0.479bb4a
  •  newt-0.52.21
  •  nspr-4.34
  •  nss-certs-3.81
  •  nss-mdns-0.14.1
  •  ntfs-3g-2022.10.3
  •  nvi-1.81.6
  •  openconnect-9.01
  •  openfwwf-firmware-5.2
  •  openssh-9.1p1
  •  openssh-sans-x-9.1p1
  •  openssl-1.1.1s
  •  openvpn-2.5.7
  •  opus-1.3.1
  •  p11-kit-0.23.22
  •  pango-1.48.10
  •  parted-3.5
  •  patch-2.7.6
  •  pciutils-3.7.0
  •  pcre2-10.37
  •  pcre-8.45
  •  perl-5.34.0
  •  pixman-0.40.0
  •  pkg-config-0.29.2
  •  polkit-1
  •  polkit-121
  •  popt-1.18
  •  ppp-2.4.9
  •  procps-3.3.16
  •  psmisc-23.5
  •  readline-8.1.1
  •  rottlog-0.72.2
  •  screen-4.9.0
  •  sed-4.8
  •  shadow-4.9
  •  shared-mime-info-1.15
  •  shepherd-0.8.1
  •  shepherd-0.9.3
  •  slang-2.3.2
  •  sqlite-3.36.0
  •  sudo-1.9.12p1
  •  tar-1.34
  •  texinfo-6.7
  •  tzdata-2022a
  •  usbutils-014
  •  util-linux-2.37.2
  •  util-linux-2.37.2-lib
  •  util-linux-with-udev-2.37.2
  •  util-linux-with-udev-2.37.2-lib
  •  v86d-0.1.10
  •  vpnc-0.5.3
  •  vpnc-scripts-20200925.3885f8b
  •  wayland-1.20.0
  •  wget-1.21.3
  •  which-2.21
  •  wireless-regdb-2020.11.20
  •  wireless-tools-30.pre9
  •  wpa-supplicant-2.10
  •  xauth-1.1.2
  •  xfsprogs-6.0.0
  •  xkeyboard-config-2.34
  •  xl2tpd-1.3.17
  •  xz-5.2.5
  •  zlib-1.2.11
  •  zstd-1.5.0
  •  zstd-1.5.0-lib


Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for Guix System

Average rating
9.0
from 10 review(s)
Please selecting a rating in the range of 1-10.
Please write at least a few sentences about the distribution while limiting your review to 4080 characters.



What are your thoughts on Guix System?
Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system.
Our FAQ page has tips on writing a good mini-review.

Version:

Rating:    out of 10

Your review (minimum 250 words):




Past reviews - sort by:

Version: 1.4.0
Rating: 10
Date: 2024-03-07
Votes: 22


** Bad:

- *This is NOT a distro for beginners.* You MUST write code in order
to install and configure the system. You MUST know a little bit of
the Scheme programming language, specifically the Guile variant of
it.

- The package manager performs some very intensive computations, a
slow CPU will likely be a little frustrating. Fortunately, when
doing routine tasks, like security updates, it is no worse than any
other Linux.

- Hardware support is /sometimes/ a little sketchy.

** Good or bad (depending on your point of view)

- Linux Libre, but can be tuned to receive non-free package channels.

** Good

Uses a *declarative package manager,* the most high-tech package
manager in existence. This is really the only reason to use Guix OS.

- Write code to declare what software and services shall exist on your
computer. The =(guix package --install)= command then "builds" and
runs this configuration.

- Uses the GNU Shepherd server manager tool that implements your
server setup declarations, you use it through by writing the same
package management code you use for installing software.

- Allows fine-tuning of software packages and easy building packages
from source, much like Gentoo.

- Allows you to install multiple package "profiles" and switch between
them, great for software development. WARNING: it is easy to
accidentally take up a lot of disk space when using many profiles.

- Allows you to "undo" (called "rollback") what packages you installed
and configured. When you run an undo, it happens almost instantly
and completely reliably, as it does not actually delete anything.

- Run "garbage collection" to automatically remove software that is no
longer used. If a software package does not belong to any profile
(including any rollback history), then it is considered to be "not
used" and is deleted.

** Conclusion:

I hope all operating systems work like Guix OS some day. The package
manager computes exactly what packages you need very
precisely. Experimenting with server configurations is as easy as can
be. But we need more people in the community developing the latest
software packages, especially for device drivers on a wider variety of
computer hardware.



Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 1.4.0
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-03-24
Votes: 28


Hello everyone,

I have been coaxed into writing a review by reading some of the other recent ones - I found them fair and measured, but had one or two little factual points to add. One reviewer, in a generally excellent review, makes the comment that Guix is heavy on the CPU/Internet Bandwidth, and that it is not to be recommended for old computers. I have two very relevant personal anecdotes to share on this.

Anecdote 1: My main machine is a Librebooted Lenovo X200, the classic chunky Thinkpad, and I have been running Guix with the Gnome desktop on it for nearly two years now, and it has been absolutely fine for all my usage. Before that I had been on various things, even going through a phase when I was trying out the less-free "light" distros (before I librebooted it). Guix was similarly smooth and quick as anything I'd tried (xubuntu, lubuntu, pureos, manjaro).

That said - I don't play computer games, I don't edit videos, and at the upper limit I might have ten tabs open, but it's rare. All other usage however - watching videos, listening to music, programming, writing, Emacsing, Info-page trawling; Guix is a joy on this old X200 for all that.

Anecdote 2: Last night I was installing Guix on a new laptop, a Lenovo 2016 X1 Yoga, and decided to time it for fun. I went through the graphical installer, added the five available lightweight window managers because I want to try them all (EXWM, ratpoison, i3, awesome, openbox), and then I was rebooting into a fresh machine in... 20m49s.

20m49s from booting the USB with the ISO image to booting a fresh Guix. That is pretty snappy, I personally feel.

The other point is that - EXWM should be included in the "Desktop" section above, it is an option in the installer!

Last point (that makes four in the end?) I was actually quite close to a total beginner when I started using Guix, and it was perfectly fine for me. I didn't know anything above the absolute basic commands for installing software for months and months, and it was grand. Gnome is solid.

Here I am, two years later, and the other day I packaged my first package. So yes, do join us, and get involved, Guix is wonderful, the documentation is great, the community are lovely. Software Freedom can be sleek and cool and exciting :)


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: 1.4.0
Rating: 10
Date: 2023-03-22
Votes: 6


GNU Guix is by far the most underrated distribution as of now. There is quite nothing like it in the "market". Using GNU Guix has made my life easier, allowing me to easily keep my devices configurations and packages in sync.

I admire the fact that it treats Linux as just a kernel, which you have the option to switch with different ones, or just different versions of it, be it linux-libre, linux-lts or any other version with proprietary drivers you might like. It made me understand the point of view of FSF, and now it clicks.

Even thought it's an amazing distro, it still does not have everything packaged, so you might need to use something like flatpak.


Was this review helpful? Yes No

See all 10 reader reviews of Guix System...

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