{"slug": "impermanence", "name": "impermanence", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 5, "warners": 0, "score": 4.531, "rising": 0.69, "first": "2025-11-30", "latest": "2026-09-10", "why": "I use Impermanence to manage the bind mounts to the persist drive", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 6, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I use Impermanence to manage the bind mounts to the persist drive", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/nix-community/impermanence", "official_url": "https://github.com/nix-community/impermanence", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["impermanence", "Impermanence"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 794387185, "item_id": 49649199, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49649199", "by": "craftkiller", "date": "2026-09-10", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Impermanence to manage the bind mounts to the persist drive", "excerpt": "The iso itself is read-only. When I need to update software I build a whole new iso and replace the existing one. For any folders/files that need persistence across reboots, I store that data separately from the iso, either in a virtual nvme drive or a mounted 9pfs folder from the host. The iso mounts the persistence drive/9pfs via /etc/fstab. So in the end, the software and config files are read-only (until I replac", "context": "", "use_case": "managing persistent bind mounts", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Syq \u2013 copy files between machines fast (better than rsync)"}, {"id": 791128001, "item_id": 49445500, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49445500", "by": "yjftsjthsd-h", "date": "2026-08-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "does this, forcefully", "excerpt": "Look, I try to avoid bringing up nix in unrelated conversations. But. > The only two options I have is a) do a factory reset and reinstall software from scratch and spend time configuring things again, or b) live with all of the extra garbage that has been excreted by the software on my systems just so that I can keep the data that I actually want to keep. NixOS solves this. > My ideal system would separate data that", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Actually Queryable Executables"}, {"id": 779875489, "item_id": 48742218, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48742218", "by": "_kb", "date": "2026-06-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Set it up with Impermanence", "excerpt": "IMO the power of NixOS is at the other extreme. Set it up with Impermanence (https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/Impermanence) and reboot often. Also worth flagging if you are only ever switching in new configs Kernel patches, firmware, or updates to systemd won\u2019t apply until next boot.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Have You Restarted Your Computer This Week?"}, {"id": 759803313, "item_id": 47487707, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47487707", "by": "kokada", "date": "2026-03-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Impermanence: https://github.com/nix-community/impermanence.", "excerpt": "> As an example, nixos keeps state around regarding user id/username mappings, to avoid giving the same user id to different users across time. So a fresh install of nixos might leave services unable to read their data files, because the file might be owned by a different user id. One reason to set `mutableUsers = false`: https://mynixos.com/nixpkgs/option/users.mutableUsers. > And if you activate and enable incus, f", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why I love NixOS"}, {"id": 757471026, "item_id": 47341939, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47341939", "by": "craftkiller", "date": "2026-03-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use impermanence to wipe my disk on every boot except for the a handful of folders that I tell it to preserve across boots.", "excerpt": "> When the new configuration finally builds, more ofen than not some component randomly stops working after reboot Good thing you're using NixOS where rolling back to a working version is as simple as a reboot, instead of Arch Linux where your options are: 1. If it's a boot issue, dig out a live USB for recovery 2. If it's a package, try rolling back piecemeal by installing old versions from /var/cache/pacman 3. Once", "context": "", "use_case": "wiping system on boot", "switched_from": "", "story": "I stopped using NixOS and went back to Arch Linux"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["managing persistent bind mounts", "wiping system on boot"], "compared": [{"slug": "nixos", "name": "NixOS", "co": 5, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49644955", "title": "Show HN: Syq \u2013 copy files between machines fast (better than rsync)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49442589", "title": "Actually Queryable Executables", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48733043", "title": "Have You Restarted Your Computer This Week?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47479751", "title": "Why I love NixOS", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47339204", "title": "I stopped using NixOS and went back to Arch Linux", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46102347", "title": "Advent of Sysadmin 2025", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "quotes": [{"id": 794387185, "item_id": 49649199, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49649199", "by": "craftkiller", "date": "2026-09-10", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Impermanence to manage the bind mounts to the persist drive", "excerpt": "The iso itself is read-only. When I need to update software I build a whole new iso and replace the existing one. For any folders/files that need persistence across reboots, I store that data separately from the iso, either in a virtual nvme drive or a mounted 9pfs folder from the host. The iso mounts the persistence drive/9pfs via /etc/fstab. So in the end, the software and config files are read-only (until I replac", "context": "", "use_case": "managing persistent bind mounts", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Syq \u2013 copy files between machines fast (better than rsync)"}, {"id": 791128001, "item_id": 49445500, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49445500", "by": "yjftsjthsd-h", "date": "2026-08-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "does this, forcefully", "excerpt": "Look, I try to avoid bringing up nix in unrelated conversations. But. > The only two options I have is a) do a factory reset and reinstall software from scratch and spend time configuring things again, or b) live with all of the extra garbage that has been excreted by the software on my systems just so that I can keep the data that I actually want to keep. NixOS solves this. > My ideal system would separate data that", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Actually Queryable Executables"}, {"id": 779875489, "item_id": 48742218, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48742218", "by": "_kb", "date": "2026-06-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Set it up with Impermanence", "excerpt": "IMO the power of NixOS is at the other extreme. Set it up with Impermanence (https://wiki.nixos.org/wiki/Impermanence) and reboot often. Also worth flagging if you are only ever switching in new configs Kernel patches, firmware, or updates to systemd won\u2019t apply until next boot.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Have You Restarted Your Computer This Week?"}, {"id": 759803313, "item_id": 47487707, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47487707", "by": "kokada", "date": "2026-03-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Impermanence: https://github.com/nix-community/impermanence.", "excerpt": "> As an example, nixos keeps state around regarding user id/username mappings, to avoid giving the same user id to different users across time. So a fresh install of nixos might leave services unable to read their data files, because the file might be owned by a different user id. One reason to set `mutableUsers = false`: https://mynixos.com/nixpkgs/option/users.mutableUsers. > And if you activate and enable incus, f", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why I love NixOS"}, {"id": 757471026, "item_id": 47341939, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47341939", "by": "craftkiller", "date": "2026-03-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use impermanence to wipe my disk on every boot except for the a handful of folders that I tell it to preserve across boots.", "excerpt": "> When the new configuration finally builds, more ofen than not some component randomly stops working after reboot Good thing you're using NixOS where rolling back to a working version is as simple as a reboot, instead of Arch Linux where your options are: 1. If it's a boot issue, dig out a live USB for recovery 2. If it's a package, try rolling back piecemeal by installing old versions from /var/cache/pacman 3. Once", "context": "", "use_case": "wiping system on boot", "switched_from": "", "story": "I stopped using NixOS and went back to Arch Linux"}, {"id": 737667024, "item_id": 46104189, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46104189", "by": "JuniperMesos", "date": "2025-11-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'd look into this NixOS project", "excerpt": "A lot of these problems seem pretty solveable, if you're the admin of the machine (or cloud system) and the user isn't. If you don't want a user to log in as root, disable the root password (or change it to something only you know) and disable root ssh. If you want people to stop sharing the same login and password across all servers, there's several ways to do it but the most straightforward one seems like it would ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Advent of Sysadmin 2025"}]}