Attending NixCon 2025

In early September of 2025 I attended NixCon in Rapperswil-Jona in Switzerland. It was my first time attending a Nix specific event and I had a blast!

It was nice to finally meet the people I've worked with, as well as put faces to GitHub handles I've collaborated with over the past year. The talks were interesting and there was something for everyone, no matter the level of their Nix-fu.

My own talk, about the build systems and infrastructure used when building NixOS, was scheduled for the second day and I'm happy with the turnout. You can find the slides here (slides). Recordings of the rest of the talks are available in media.ccc.de.

My NixCon experience was exceptional. The organizing team payed attention to every detail, from showing us around the OST campus and livestreaming the talks, to informing us about the different recycling bins in the campus and surrounding area.

The venue was simply amazing, with some breathtaking views of Lake Zurich. There were enough rooms to work on things with other people if you needed some quiet, a big open lounge area to socialize, and enough tea and coffee to keep everyone caffeinated throught the three days of the conference.

Traveling to/from the venue and staying in Switzerland was more expensive than what I anticipated and I heard similar comments from other attendees as well. However, for the duration of the event, we were given food coupons we could use on the campus cafeteria, so we had two free meals per day which mafe life easier. Eating at the cafeteria also served as a way to socialize with other attendees.

My experience as a speaker was also very pleasent. The AV team used a hands-free wireless microphone, which made presenting easy and I didn't have to worry about speaking close to a stationary microphone or the volume of my voice. There was a screen displaying how much time I had left and the AV setup with my laptop was easy to configure and worked out of the box.

Once again, thank you to the AV team for their amazing work, the recorded talks are of very high quality audio/video wise and thank you to all the volunteers and the organizing team. I'm already looking forward to the next NixCon!