I've been using Nix and NixOS since 2022. I can't imagine not using Nix at this point and agree that the reputation for "being too hard" is not quite accurate.

I've been using Nix and NixOS since 2022. I can't imagine not using Nix at this point and agree that the reputation for "being too hard" is not quite accurate. Nix is different - that's the point. The learning curve is a thing, although I'd argue that it's nowhere near as steep as the tools many of us use every day (C++, Rust, AWS/GCP, etc.) Nix's "difficulty" IMO comes from defaults that are not sane and a split community. For example, if you use the official Nix installer, flakes are not enabled by default (despite being widely used [1]), but they are if you use the Determinate Systems Nix installer. Flakes are realistically the only way to obtain the benefits that motivate learning Nix (deterministic pure builds, fine-grained control over dependencies) and are the "primary driver of Nix's adoption" [2]. AFIK there isn't a viable alternative to flakes other than maybe atoms [3], which are relatively new (like "lock files are totally hand made" new [4]). Yet, the official Nix stance on flakes is to wait... for... what? For a day-in-the-life look at more of Nix's rough edges, I posted some rambles here [5]. [1] https://x.com/d4r5c2/status/1896415101386928539 https://x.com/d4r5c2/status/1896415101386928539 [2] https://x.com/grhmc/status/1896551138104844389 https://x.com/grhmc/status/1896551138104844389 [3] https://x.com/nrdexp/status/1925892763301695978 https://x.com/nrdexp/status/1925892763301695978 [4] https://x.com/nrdexp/status/1925707692447871283 https://x.com/nrdexp/status/1925707692447871283 [5] https://youtu.be/TwVamLq5OHY https://youtu.be/TwVamLq5OHY