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https://github.com/hlissner/dotfiles

And I say hey, what's going on?
https://github.com/hlissner/dotfiles

dotfiles nix-flake nixos nixos-configuration

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And I say hey, what's going on?

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README 

        
[![Made with Doom Emacs](https://img.shields.io/badge/Made_with-Doom_Emacs-blueviolet.svg?style=flat-square&logo=GNU%20Emacs&logoColor=white)](https://github.com/hlissner/doom-emacs)

[![NixOS Unstable](https://img.shields.io/badge/NixOS-unstable-blue.svg?style=flat-square&logo=NixOS&logoColor=white)](https://nixos.org)



**Hey,** you. You're finally awake. You were trying to configure your OS

declaratively, right? Walked right into that NixOS ambush, same as us, and those

dotfiles over there.



> **Disclaimer:** _This is not a community framework or distribution._ It's a

> private configuration and an ongoing experiment to feel out NixOS. I make no

> guarantees that it will work out of the box for anyone but myself. It may also

> change drastically and without warning. 

> 

> Until I can bend spoons with my nix-fu, please don't treat me like an

> authority or expert in the NixOS space. Seek help on [the NixOS

> discourse](https://discourse.nixos.org) instead.

















------



|                |                                                          |

|----------------|----------------------------------------------------------|

| **Shell:**     | zsh + zgenom                                             |

| **DM:**        | lightdm + lightdm-mini-greeter                           |

| **WM:**        | bspwm + polybar                                          |

| **Editor:**    | [Doom Emacs][doom-emacs]                                 |

| **Terminal:**  | st                                                       |

| **Launcher:**  | rofi                                                     |

| **Browser:**   | firefox                                                  |

| **GTK Theme:** | [Ant Dracula](https://github.com/EliverLara/Ant-Dracula) |



-----



## Quick start



1. Acquire NixOS 21.11 or newer:

   ```sh

   # Yoink nixos-unstable

   wget -O nixos.iso https://channels.nixos.org/nixos-unstable/latest-nixos-minimal-x86_64-linux.iso

   

   # Write it to a flash drive

   cp nixos.iso /dev/sdX

   ```



2. Boot into the installer.



3. Switch to root user: `sudo su -`



4. Do your partitions and mount your root to `/mnt` ([for

   example](hosts/kuro/README.org)).



5. Install these dotfiles:

   ```sh

   nix-shell -p git nixFlakes



   # Set HOST to the desired hostname of this system

   HOST=...

   # Set USER to your desired username (defaults to hlissner)

   USER=...



   git clone https://github.com/hlissner/dotfiles /etc/dotfiles

   cd /etc/dotfiles

   

   # Create a host config in `hosts/` and add it to the repo:

   mkdir -p hosts/$HOST

   nixos-generate-config --root /mnt --dir /etc/dotfiles/hosts/$HOST

   rm -f hosts/$HOST/configuration.nix

   cp hosts/kuro/default.nix hosts/$HOST/default.nix

   vim hosts/$HOST/default.nix  # configure this for your system; don't use it verbatim!

   git add hosts/$HOST

   

   # Install nixOS

   USER=$USER nixos-install --root /mnt --impure --flake .#$HOST

   

   # If you get 'unrecognized option: --impure', replace '--impure' with 

   # `--option pure-eval no`.



   # Then move the dotfiles to the mounted drive!

   mv /etc/dotfiles /mnt/etc/dotfiles

   ```



6. Then reboot and you're good to go!



> :warning: **Don't forget to change your `root` and `$USER` passwords!** They

> are set to `nixos` by default.



## Management



And I say, `bin/hey`, [what's going on?](http://hemansings.com/)



```

Usage: hey [global-options] [command] [sub-options]



Available Commands:

  check                  Run 'nix flake check' on your dotfiles

  gc                     Garbage collect & optimize nix store

  generations            Explore, manage, diff across generations

  help [SUBCOMMAND]      Show usage information for this script or a subcommand

  rebuild                Rebuild the current system's flake

  repl                   Open a nix-repl with nixpkgs and dotfiles preloaded

  rollback               Roll back to last generation

  search                 Search nixpkgs for a package

  show                   [ARGS...]

  ssh HOST [COMMAND]     Run a bin/hey command on a remote NixOS system

  swap PATH [PATH...]    Recursively swap nix-store symlinks with copies (and back).

  test                   Quickly rebuild, for quick iteration

  theme THEME_NAME       Quickly swap to another theme module

  update [INPUT...]      Update specific flakes or all of them

  upgrade                Update all flakes and rebuild system



Options:

    -d, --dryrun                     Don't change anything; perform dry run

    -D, --debug                      Show trace on nix errors

    -f, --flake URI                  Change target flake to URI

    -h, --help                       Display this help, or help for a specific command

    -i, -A, -q, -e, -p               Forward to nix-env

```



## Frequently asked questions



+ **Why NixOS?**



  Because managing hundreds of servers is the tenth circle of hell without a

  declarative, generational, and immutable single-source-of-truth configuration

  framework like NixOS.

  

  Sure beats the nightmare of capistrano/chef/puppet/ansible + brittle shell

  scripts I left behind.



+ **Should I use NixOS?**



  **Short answer:** no.

  

  **Long answer:** no really. Don't.

  

  **Long long answer:** I'm not kidding. Don't.

  

  **Unsigned long long answer:** Alright alright. Here's why not:



  - Its learning curve is steep.

  - You _will_ trial and error your way to enlightenment, if you survive long

    enough.

  - NixOS is unlike other Linux distros. Your issues will be unique and

    difficult to google.

  - If the words "declarative", "generational", and "immutable" don't make you

    _fully_ erect, you're considering NixOS for the wrong reasons.

  - The overhead of managing a NixOS config will rarely pay for itself with

    fewer than 3 systems (perhaps another distro with nix on top would suit you

    better?).

  - Official documentation for Nix(OS) is vast, but shallow.

  - Unofficial resources and example configs are sparse and tend to be either

    too simple or too complex (or outdated).

  - The Nix language is obtuse and its toolchain is unintuitive. This is made

    infinitely worse if you've never touched the shell or a functional language

    before, but you'll _need_ to learn it to do even a fraction of what makes

    NixOS worth all the trouble.

  - A decent grasp of Linux and its ecosystem is a must, if only to distinguish

    Nix(OS) issues from Linux (or upstream) issues -- as well as to debug them

    or report them to the correct authority (and coherently).

  - If you need somebody else to tell you whether or not you need NixOS, you

    don't need NixOS.



  If none of this has deterred you, then you didn't need my advice in the first

  place. Stop procrastinating and try NixOS!

  

+ **How do you manage secrets?**



  With [agenix].



+ **Why did you write bin/hey?**



  I envy Guix's CLI and want similar for NixOS, whose toolchain is spread across

  many commands, none of which are as intuitive: `nix`, `nix-collect-garbage`,

  `nixos-rebuild`, `nix-env`, `nix-shell`.

  

  I don't claim `hey` is the answer, but everybody likes their own brew.

 

+ **How 2 flakes?**



  Would it be the NixOS experience if I gave you all the answers in one,

  convenient place?

  

  No. Suffer my pain:

  

  + [A three-part tweag article that everyone's read.](https://www.tweag.io/blog/2020-05-25-flakes/)

  + [An overengineered config to scare off beginners.](https://github.com/divnix/devos)

  + [A minimalistic config for scared beginners.](https://github.com/colemickens/nixos-flake-example)

  + [A nixos wiki page that spells out the format of flake.nix.](https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Flakes)

  + [Official documentation that nobody reads.](https://nixos.org/learn.html)

  + [Some great videos on general nixOS tooling and hackery.](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-cY3DcYladGdFQWIKL90SQ)

  + A couple flake configs that I 

    [may](https://github.com/LEXUGE/nixos) 

    [have](https://github.com/bqv/nixrc)

    [shamelessly](https://git.sr.ht/~dunklecat/nixos-config/tree)

    [rummaged](https://github.com/utdemir/dotfiles)

    [through](https://github.com/purcell/dotfiles).

  + [Some notes about using Nix](https://github.com/justinwoo/nix-shorts)

  + [What helped me figure out generators (for npm, yarn, python and haskell)](https://myme.no/posts/2020-01-26-nixos-for-development.html)

  + [Learn from someone else's descent into madness; this journals his

    experience digging into the NixOS

    ecosystem](https://www.ianthehenry.com/posts/how-to-learn-nix/introduction/)

  + [What y'all will need when Nix drives you to drink.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eni9PPPPBpg)



[doom-emacs]: https://github.com/hlissner/doom-emacs

[nixos]: https://releases.nixos.org/?prefix=nixos/unstable/

[agenix]: https://github.com/ryantm/agenix