Comment by jinks_

This sounds like a great idea! How do I do it? (The unstable stuff and using modern techniques? How do I even know what's modern?)

I currently have a spare laptop lying around. I popped in the latest NixOS ISO and just gave it a spin. Some things I noticed:

- The installer only allows to install on ext4 unless you manually partition the disk? I thought it was 2025, not 2005.

- Is there no way to search for packages without a browser?

- I found boot.grub.* and boot.systemd-boot.* - what if I want to use refind? What about Limine?

- How do I know if any given program goes into programs.programname.enable = true or into environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [ programname ]?

- Why is the ISO furnishing me with a configuration.nix when everyone says to use flakes instead of that? How do I switch?

I'd preferably be able to answer those questions without reading a 300 page handbook. I've been using a lot of Linux distros over the last 30 years and the above questions have usually bean answerable on a headless system with the supplied documentation. I understand that Nix is a paradigm shift compared to "classic" distros, but that only puts the onus more in Nix to be discoverable.