> I can specify the whole OS including the packages I need and the configuration in one declarative setup. That one place aspect matters to me more than it might sound at first.
It took me less than a day of experimenting with it to learn that it is one place only in theory.
The second you start googling „how do I install xyz“ you discover there are also flakes. And others have some sort of convoluted git like method. And there is a package manager thing. And the direct config file editing like in this article. And a disposable temp install of some sort. And naturally software guides don’t give you instructions for all - they’re opinionated.
Felt a lot like being on Debian and the software only comes in .rpm
That really took the wind out of my sails because like OP I liked the basic config file part
I see your point about there being different ways to install a package, but I think I can clarify a bit by explaining how I use NixOS.
If I'm running a package on a server that means I want to install it declaratively, so I find the name of the package in Nixpkgs and put it in my `configuration.nix` file. I'm using flakes, but the configuration is exactly the same, I just put the package in the output section of the flake. Any instructions you see to install a package just boils down to finding the name of the package. To me this is as simple as finding the name of a Debian package and running `apt` to install it.
If you want additional features there are other optional ways to install packages, but these are features other distros don't offer, so if you just ignore them then there's no extra complexity compared to Debian for example.
It took me less than a day of experimenting with it to learn that it is one place only in theory.
The second you start googling „how do I install xyz“ you discover there are also flakes. And others have some sort of convoluted git like method. And there is a package manager thing. And the direct config file editing like in this article. And a disposable temp install of some sort. And naturally software guides don’t give you instructions for all - they’re opinionated.
Felt a lot like being on Debian and the software only comes in .rpm
That really took the wind out of my sails because like OP I liked the basic config file part