On a new machine

• Clone this repository
• Run make init
• Run make install

Upgrading packages

If wanted, change the version in nix/flake.nix first

make update # or update-unstable

Common issues

Nix : Error: It seems there is already an App at '/Applications/...'

brew remove --force --cask ...

Temporary use a package from another channel

nix run nixpkgs/nixpkgs-unstable#<PACKAGE>

Useful links

• https://nixos-and-flakes.thiscute.world/preface

History:

v0 : Bash script

As usual, it went bad quickly. Nothing should ever be written using shell scripts. Shell scripting shouldn't even exist.

v1 : Python rewrite

Rewritten in Python. Life was nice, but a little bit hacky and manual

v2 : Nix

Moving to Nix, nix-darwin & home-manager. This works well but is too complicated. I really don't want to understand/learn a new language only to manag packages, files and settings on my laptops.

v3 : Nix package management without Nix lang ?

Nix (the language) is painful and unncessary for me, while the package management and config management is very useful. I want a way to get rid of the language.

Required features :

• Package management and override (i.e I want to install a specific version of a given package for whatever reason)
• Homebrew + Cask management
• Dotfiles management (mostly symlinks)
• [optional] MacOS' Launchd control (cf. https://www.danielcorin.com/til/nix-darwin/launch-agents/)
• [optional] MacOS' customisation
• Default + overridable configuration : some packages must be available for all machines, but some only at work/home
• Different username in work/home setup
• [optional] Likely different dotfiles for work/home setup
• [optional] Before/After hooks for any given stage
• Use logging to display debug messages intead of print