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TWed Talk: "~Nix~, Nix, NixOS: Generating stable, reproducible environments" (4p, Weds, 19 Nov, Winslow 1140)

Posted November 15, 2025
TWed Talk: 19 Nov 2025
Pizzas and salads will be delivered at approx. 3:30p; the talk will begin at 4p.

WHAT: TWed Talk: "Nix, Nix, NixOS: Generating stable, reproducible environments"
WHEN: 4p, Weds, 19 Nov 2025
WHERE: Winslow 1140
WEBEX: https://rensselaer.webex.com/meet/erickj4
VIDEO: TBD
EVENT PAGE: https://bit.ly/4nXIkD9

Please join us as Sasha Lutsevich leads us in a discussion of Nix and NixOS, a unique Linux distribution that uses a functional language for describing the system configuration. NixOS generates complete system profiles, enabling reproducible deployments, atomic upgrades, and system rollbacks. Pizza arrives approx. 3:30p, the talk begins at 4p.

DESCRIPTION: Reproducible procedures form the backbone of the scientific method. The ongoing replication crisis attests to the difficulty of maintaining this standard, which is further exacerbated by the growing complexity of modern software dependencies. Most offered solutions are either language-specific (e.g. Pip, CRAN), or follow a non-deterministic, imperative model (e.g. Dockerfile). The Nix ecosystem addresses this by applying a purely functional paradigm to environment- and system configurations, treating package builds as immutable functions. This enables highly reproducible, isolated per-project environments, holistic system definitions, and atomic upgrades with trivial rollbacks. In this talk, I will provide a brief overview of the Nix ecosystem, focusing on Nix (package manager) and NixOS (Linux distribution built on top of it), showcase some of its capabilities, and share an experience report of day-to-day usage.

BIO: Alexander (Sasha) Lutsevich uses cognitive architectures (particularly PSI), to integrate empirical research with cognitive simulation to provide an integrative account for the interaction of human bias and cognitive ability. He received his Ph.D. from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and holds a Master's Degree in Psychology from the University of Bamberg, Germany.

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