Guix is both a package manager for Linux operating system and a standalone Linux based operating system. You can use Guix on top of other Linux distros or use it as a standalone operating system by itself. When you use Guix as an operating system, it comes with with the package manager built inside. It allows you to install software through the command guix.
Guix system Linux distro is available as bootable CD ISO and also in form of a Qemu image. You can use the Qemu virtual machine image to try it on your computer without having to install it or reboot your PC to try the CD or USB drive.
Here is how you can run GNU Guix Linux on a Windows 10 PC using the fast virtualization software Qemu:
- First of all install Intel HAXM on your Windows PC assuming you have an Intel processor that supports VT-x. You can find the instructions to install HAXM without any problems from https://www.trishtech.com/2020/04/how-to-install-intel-hardware-accelerated-execution-manager-haxm-on-windows-10/.
- Download Qemu from https://www.qemu.org/ and install it on your Windows PC. Make sure that you add the Qemu installation folder to the PATH environment variable in Windows settings (you can find the settings by pressing Win+Pause and then selecting Advanced System Settings).
- Download GNU Guix Qemu image from https://guix.gnu.org/download/. Extract it a folder, e.g. D:\ISO.
- Give the following command to run Guix in Qemu:
qemu-system-x86_64 -accel hax -m 1024 -hda guix-system-vm-image-1.1.0.x86_64-linux
- Press Ctrl+Alt+F to switch to the full-screen mode and enjoy this new Linux from GNU.
GNU Guix system when used as a standalone operating system is not really meant for the beginners as it lacks all the bells and whistles you will find in more popular distros like Mint Linux. But it does provide unparalleled package management features.