Overview
I use the nix package manager on all of my (non-mobile) computers, and it is very helpful.
There are many ways that this setup provides me value, but one of the most legible is this: I have a fairly customized environment (including a few dozen tools, a couple hundred lines of config, and about a dozen custom scripts) that I am able to install and synchronize across multiple machines, including my personal MacBook Pro, my Linux work machine, and a few servers I use for hobby projects.
Usage
-
Upgrade nix to a pre-release version with experimental support for flakes:*
nix-env -iAf https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/tarball/release-20.03 nixFlakes -
Enable experimental features:*
sudo mkdir -p /etc/nix && echo 'experimental-features = nix-command flakes ca-references' | sudo tee -a /etc/nix/nix.conf -
Install my environment:
nix profile install github:jeremyschlatter/nixpkgs -
Run my post-install script:
jeremy-post-install
*I am using an experimental feature called Nix flakes. These steps are needed to opt into it before it stabilizes.
Composing env definitions
While the bulk of my environment is defined here in this repo, I also have a few pieces defined in private repos. This is useful for managing parts of my environment that either need to be secret or that I just don't want to publish for whatever reason.
I have not yet written instructions for how to compose these definitions. I may do that in the future.
About my environment
This config installs kitty, which I use as my terminal emulator.
It configures kitty to use a custom shell (bash with a custom bashrc). To use my shell config outside
kitty, you can run it manually as shell.
Other Notes
To pick up the Fira Code font in Gnome I made this symlink:
ln -s ~/.nix-profile/share/fonts/ ~/.local/share/
To pick up application launchers for kitty and alacritty in Gnome I made this symlink:
rmdir ~/.local/share/applications
ln -s ~/.nix-profile/share/applications/ ~/.local/share/