> If I can reduce my entire desktop environment into a single config file and have it reliably reconstruct itself, it would be magical. I would freeze and wipe my machine constantly.
You can do this with Nix. I do this with Nix even on non-NixOS machines. The thing is that Nix has a certain "path of enlightenment" that one needs to walk until it becomes a tool that adds certain capabilities[0] to your mental model.
All the software is inconsistent, but we can wrap it consistently by whichever means are necessary for that particular thing. Anything from flags setting paths to dynamically patching the source (and describing that operation as code) is possible.
You can do this with Nix. I do this with Nix even on non-NixOS machines. The thing is that Nix has a certain "path of enlightenment" that one needs to walk until it becomes a tool that adds certain capabilities[0] to your mental model.
All the software is inconsistent, but we can wrap it consistently by whichever means are necessary for that particular thing. Anything from flags setting paths to dynamically patching the source (and describing that operation as code) is possible.
[0]: e.g. https://git.tazj.in/tree/web/cgit-taz/default.nix#n61