Declarative Package Management on Arch
Background
Something that bothers me with most operating systems, is that the longer you use them, the dirtier they get. You accumulate files, and install software/packages, and over time forget what you even installed and why. This can lead to instability, and just a bloated system. I had this problem on Arch Linux for a long time, then some years ago I discovered NixOS. NixOS was amazing to me because this problem didn’t exist anymore. All my config files and all my packages were defined in a single place. I’d make changes to the file, nixos-rebuild then my system would have those packages and configs in place. But NixOS came with it’s own headaches, mainly that it forced me to do things the NixOS way, and it also made it difficult to use some programs because it places the packages you install in read-only filesystems. Eventually I found myself installing Arch again, and just accepting that it got dirty. But with the news about the AUR having loads of malware, it’s more important than ever to keep good track of what you have installed and why. I wasn’t too worried though because I found something called metapac.
Freeblox
Progress!
I chose a name for the project. At least for now, it is called Freeblox. I initialized the git repo at codeberg.org/norawibb/freeblox, and I also obtained the domain freeblox.org (which I’ve currently set up to just redirect to the Codeberg page). I’m pretty motivated to work on this stuff right now since I have time on my hands and I’m wanting a fun thing to play while hanging out in voice chats. Also Roblox has been in the news lately, not really related to the things I mentioned before, but I do think my project will be able to fix those issues too.
Federated Roblox
Background
I hate modern Roblox. I played Roblox starting in 2009 and loved it through about 2016 or so. The game looked like LEGOs, the games people made were simple and fun, the sounds/ambience were quaint. The website itself was fun. You could browse the shop and buy items for your avatar, and you could create and join groups to chat with people. After that time it started to degrade into a corporate hell world. The engine got more features, and in doing so, the games looked less and less like the classic Roblox I grew up with. It barely resembles LEGOs and the games are monetized to hell. As someone who uses Linux, federated social media, and FOSS software only, I’d love to have something like Roblox that was FOSS and federated.