In reply to @olafklingt:matrix.org
I am trying to improve the reproducible nixos-generate-config. it would be nice if we could not reproduce the installer configuration but use the installer configuration as defined in
https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/nixos/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-graphical-base.nix ... but i have no idea how to do that. (i already commented on this on the ticket but i think here is a better place if someone has an idea)

In reply to @olafklingt:matrix.org
what i don't want to do is this because one would need to have a copy of nixpkgs around:
nix-shell -p "with (import ./. {}); (nixos { imports = [./nixos/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-graphical-gnome.nix ]; }).config.system.build.nixos-generate-config"

In reply to @olafklingt:matrix.org
what i don't want to do is this because one would need to have a copy of nixpkgs around:
nix-shell -p "with (import ./. {}); (nixos { imports = [./nixos/modules/installer/cd-dvd/installation-cd-graphical-gnome.nix ]; }).config.system.build.nixos-generate-config"

In reply to @tejing:matrix.org
I'm working on a nixos module to improve the UX of trying to run ELF binaries not made for nixos: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/269551

I've quickly realized I need a documentation entry point to link to, since explaining everything people want to know makes the message too long. Afaik there isn't really a proper place for that currently.

Any thoughts on where this really should live?

In reply to @tejing:matrix.org
That's certainly a better place than I'd thought of yet. Another possibility is to add something directly on https://nixos.org/learn, maybe? Perhaps both. We want accessibility, since this is the most likely reason for a nixos user to start learning the nix language and getting deeper into the nix ecosystem, but nix.dev does seem like a better place for the guide to actually live.

In reply to @proofconstruction:matrix.org

I was just confused about "why the thing people seem to be using the most" is not the thing we are also documenting.

Indeed this is a giant problem: the thing people are using the most is also the most broken. This is not really even my opinion, but a matter of technical fact. I even use flakes for my own system configurations, but this is still the case largely because I, like so many, adopted that workflow without any awareness of the problems lurking beneath the surface (also at the surface; flake.nix is not even a valid Nix file!)

I made an attempt to switch from a flakes based NixOS configuration, to a npins managed standard configuration.nix based one. I almost got there, but couldn't figure out the last trick (getting nixos-rebuild to use the pinned packages instead of whatever it has in store). I found various bits of information about it on the internet (in the context of niv, which I think is mostly applicable here, but ultimately couldn't figure out the last little bit (getting nixos-rebuild switch to work), and I am conceptually lost enough now that the most I can do is write out a Discourse post discussing the situation, and hoping for the best.

So, for now, I am tucking my tail between my legs and trotting off back to flakes.nix. The solution might lie in simply doing a live reboot from an iso that is built that is built using an npins managed nixpkgs from the start (rather than rebuild switching into it).

But yeah, I can see why you'd just continue carrying on with flakes.nix, if yours is already quite complicated (mine isn't, it's just a glorified pinned entrypoint into my configuration modules).