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+#import "/global/common.typ": *
+
+#let doc = [
+Almost a guide to getting started with NixOS the modern (2023) way.
+
+There seems to be a shortage of written guides on the Internet for setting up
+NixOS the "modern" way - Flakes + Home Manager. It doesn't help that Nix's
+official docs are very disjointed so hopefully this will fill in some gaps that
+I observed when setting it all up.
+
+#fig("nixos-p1/fox.jpg", alt: "meme")
+
+#quote(block: true)[
+    Warning: NixOS is not exactly beginner friendly - you should have
+    familiarity installing Linux distros before trying this.
+]
+
+= But Why NixOS?
+
+Eh... FOMO regarding all the
+#extlink("https://www.google.com/search?q=nixos+memes&tbm=isch")[memes].
+
+There is one particular feature that is intriguing - the ability to roll-back
+your entire system (not incl. BIOS) in case of a misconfiguration or a broken
+update. *You can't do this with Ansible.* This allows you (in theory) to get
+the benefits of a rolling release as well as the stability benefits of a
+traditional distro.
+
+#quote(block: true)[
+    It takes the idea of reproducible builds, and extends it to the OS.
+]
+
+For example, NixOS will present you with all previous "builds" at boot time for
+you to revert to in case something gets messed up.
+
+#fig("nixos-p1/boot.png", alt: "boot prompt")
+
+= Things I want to explore as part of this exercise:
+
++ How hard is it to go from a minimal install to productive? At minimum I need
+  a graphical environment with working vol, mic, camera, wifi, and hibernation.
+  Is it harder than doing the same in something like Manjaro?
++ Is Wayland truly ready?
++ Try out #extlink("https://github.com/djpohly/dwl")[`dwl`] (the Wayland port
+  of `dwm` by the #extlink("https://suckless.org")[suckless] folks)
+
+= Constraints
+
++ I want to stick to the "Nix" way of doing things as much as possible _where
+  it makes sense to me_.
++ Stick to Wayland only applications as much as possible.
+
+= Spoilers! (End result)
+
+#fig("nixos-p1/rice.png", alt: "my rice")
+
+(Probably too ugly for r/unixporn, but works for me :)
+
+= Installation
+
+== Getting a Live USB going
+
+- I used the #extlink("https://nixos.org/download.html#nixos-iso")[minimal iso].
+- Create a bootable USB with the usual - `sudo dd if=/path/to/iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M`.
+- Boot up.
+- Then start following the steps for
+  #extlink("https://nixos.org/manual/nixos/stable/index.html#sec-installation-manual")[manual
+    installation] from the official guide to complete the install.
+
+#quote(block: true)[
+    Make sure to give SWAP as much space as your memory capacity for
+    hibernation to work properly.
+]
+
+#quote(block: true)[
+    Wifi did not work for me out of the box. So I used my phone to tether via
+    USB.
+]
+
+= First boot
+
+If everything went well, you should be presented with a TTY prompting you to
+login:
+
+```
+NixOS ...
+Login: <your username>
+Password: <your password>
+```
+
+Once you login, you will still just have a TTY, but we can now go ahead and
+start installing our graphical environment.
+
+= Housekeeping
+
+- You should have two NixOS config files in `/etc/nixos/`:
+
+```
+configuration.nix
+hardware-configuration.nix
+```
+
+- Edit the `configuration.nix` file by setting the correct values for hostname,
+  networking, timezone and users. I also add a few basic system-wide packages
+  here such as `git, rsync, neovim, htop` etc.
+
+- To _apply and use_ your changes to any of these files you need to run:
+
+```bash
+sudo nixos-rebuild switch
+```
+
+- Since we want all our configuration to be version controlled, I copied these
+  files to live under my user's config: `~/.config/{nix, nixpkgs}/`:
+
+```bash
+cp /etc/nix/nix.conf ~/.config/nix/nix.conf
+cp /etc/nixos/configuration.nix ~/.config/nixpkgs/configuration.nix
+```
+
+Nix will now use these user-specific files to read its config :)
+
+== Flakes Support
+
+Nix (the pkg mgr) does not come with Flakes support out-of-the-box. So we need
+to enable it:
+
++ In `~/.config/nix/nix.conf` add:
+
+```
+experimental-features = nix-command flakes
+```
+
++ Apply it:
+
+```bash
+sudo nixos-rebuild switch
+```
+
+Read about #extlink("https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Flakes")[Flakes].
+
+== Home Manager Support
+
+Now we can install the Home-Manager flake.
+
++ Init our base flake:
+
+```bash
+cd ~/.config/nixpkgs
+nix flake init
+```
+
+This should generate two files:
+
+```
+flake.nix
+flake.lock
+```
+
++ Next we tell `flake.nix` to manage all our configuration (system + home) for
+  our system:
+
+```nix
+{
+  description = "NixOS configuration";
+
+  inputs = {
+    nixpkgs.url = "github:nixos/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable";
+    home-manager.url = "github:nix-community/home-manager";
+    home-manager.inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs";
+    nixos-hardware.url = "github:NixOS/nixos-hardware/master";
+  };
+
+  outputs = inputs@{ nixpkgs, home-manager, nixos-hardware, ... }: {
+    nixosConfigurations = {
+      # Change below to use your hostname from configuration.nix
+      "art-sr" = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
+        system = "x86_64-linux";
+        modules = [
+          ./configuration.nix
+          nixos-hardware.nixosModules.framework
+          home-manager.nixosModules.home-manager
+          {
+            home-manager.useGlobalPkgs = true;
+            home-manager.useUserPackages = true;
+            # Change below to use your username from configuration.nix
+            home-manager.users.kdam0 = import ./home.nix;
+
+            # Optionally, use home-manager.extraSpecialArgs to pass
+            # arguments to home.nix
+          }
+        ];
+      };
+    };
+  };
+}
+```
+
+#quote(block: true)["art-sr" is my hostname for this machine.]
+
+In my case, I also have the following two lines specifically to load settings
+for my hardware:
+
+```
+    nixos-hardware.url = "github:NixOS/nixos-hardware/master";
+    ...
+          nixos-hardware.nixosModules.framework
+```
+
+you will need to modify these values based on your
+#extlink("https://github.com/NixOS/nixos-hardware")[hardware support].
+
++ Create a `~/.config/nixpkgs/home.nix` file with your values:
+
+```nix
+{ config, pkgs, ...}:
+{
+  home.username = "kdam0";
+  home.homeDirectory = "/home/kdam0";
+
+  programs.home-manager.enable = true;
+  home.stateVersion = "22.11";
+
+  services.gpg-agent = {
+    enable = true;
+    defaultCacheTtl = 1800;
+    enableSshSupport = true;
+  };
+}
+```
+
++ Apply:
+
+```bash
+sudo nixos-rebuild switch
+```
+
+#quote(block: true)[
+    It took a few attempts to get NixOS to re-build successfully. I ran into a
+    few different issues involving users, and hostnames while following the
+    official docs until I arrived at the configs above which worked.
+]
+
+Read about
+#extlink("https://nix-community.github.io/home-manager/index.html#ch-nix-flakes")[Home
+  Manager flake].
+
+*This would be a good time init a git repo in `~/.config/nixpkgs/` and publish
+your progress.*
+
+= Setting up the GUI
+
+== Window Manager + bar + system info.
+
+Getting `dwl` is easy enough. In my `home.nix`:
+
+```
+  home.packages = [
+    pkgs.dwl
+    ...
+  ];
+```
+
+This will install `dwl` on a rebuild. Then I can run it with `dwl`.
+
+Oh it fails...something about permissions... In
+`~/.config/nixpkgs/configuration.nix` make sure you have:
+
+```
+  security.polkit.enable = true;
+```
+
+Oh it fails again with GLE errors :( Add:
+
+```
+  hardware.opengl = {
+    enable = true;
+    driSupport = true;
+  };
+```
+
+*Sweet now it launches!*
+
+But of course I need to configure the keys - that's the whole point of a WM.
+Additionally, `dwl` requires a re-build on every config change...
+
+*How do I tell Nix to use my config file while installing/building `dwl`?*
+
+Lucking all packages (`pkgs.*`) build files are defined on their GitHub. We can
+see that we are allowed to pass in a `conf` argument to
+#extlink("https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/pkgs/applications/window-managers/dwl/default.nix")[this]
+file.
+
+After a bit of digging around, I arrived at how to do it:
+
++ First copy your `config.h` to `~/.config/nixpkgs/dwl/config.h`.
++ Then point to it in your `home.nix`:
+
+```
+  home.packages = [
+    (pkgs.dwl.override {
+      # trying to supply config.home.homeDirectory here leads to "impure" usage.
+      # so disabling it for now.
+      # conf = (builtins.readFile "${config.home.homeDirectory}/.config/dwl/config.h");
+      conf = ./dwl/config.h;
+    })
+    ...
+  ];
+```
+
+#quote(block: true)[
+    I know I can just clone the source myself and build it, but I like to use
+    the default package manager whenever possible to manage packages.
+]
+
+Of course since `dwl` is as minimal as it gets, it does not ship with a bar. We
+have many options for which bar to use, I have very little use for a bar, so I
+kept it very simple and went with `somebar`:
+
+```
+  home.packages = [
+    ...
+    pkgs.somebar
+    ...
+  ];
+```
+
+If you want status info on your bar you can use something like `someblocks` -
+which will let you script simple scripts with text output you want displayed in
+each block. This will need to be cloned and built manually as it is not
+available in the Nix repos.
+
+Oh but you probably don't have `make` or any requirements to actually build
+it...fear not:
+
+```bash
+nix-shell -p gnumake
+```
+
+which put you in a temporary environment with all the common build tools
+available. Now you can:
+
+```bash
+sudo make install
+```
+
+`wbg` is a simple background setter for Wayland......aaaand BAM!
+
+#fig("nixos-p1/dwl.png", alt: "dwl pic")
+
+== Terminal
+
+I use #extlink("https://codeberg.org/dnkl/foot")[`foot`].
+
+Create the config file in `~/.config/nixpkgs/foot/foot.ini`:
+
+```
+# for transparency #
+[colors]
+alpha=0.7
+```
+
+Use it in `home.nix`:
+
+```
+  home.file.".config/foot/foot.ini".source = ../../common/foot/foot.ini;
+```
+
+#quote(block: true)[I use this pattern for pretty much all my _dotfiles_:]
+
+```
+  # script that sets a bg.
+  home.file."bg.sh".source = common/bg.sh;
+  # script that starts my gui env.
+  home.file."start.sh".source = common/start.sh;
+  # foot config
+  home.file.".config/foot/foot.ini".source = common/foot/foot.ini;
+  # wofi config (app launcher)
+  home.file.".config/wofi/style.css".source = common/wofi/style.css;
+  # mako config (notifications)
+  home.file.".config/mako/config".source = common/mako/config;
+```
+
+== Sound
+
+In my `configuration.nix`:
+
+```
+  security.rtkit.enable = true;
+  services.pipewire = {
+    enable = true;
+    alsa.enable = true;
+    alsa.support32Bit = true;
+    pulse.enable = true;
+    wireplumber.enable = true;
+    media-session.enable = false;
+    jack.enable = true;
+    systemWide = false;
+  };
+```
+
+== Nextcloud
+
+I want a purely CLI way to handle this, and a periodic sync is sufficient for
+me. We do this with `systemd-timers` (Nix advises against `cron`). In my
+`home.nix`:
+
+```
+  systemd.user.services = {
+    nextcloud-sync = {
+      Unit = {
+        Description = "Auto sync Nextcloud";
+        After = "network-online.target";
+      };
+      Service = {
+        Type = "simple";
+        EnvironmentFile = "${config.home.homeDirectory}/.nextcloud.env";
+        ExecStart = ''
+          ${pkgs.nextcloud-client}/bin/nextcloudcmd \
+          -h --non-interactive \
+          --user "''${NEXTCLOUD_USER}" \
+          --password "''${NEXTCLOUD_PASSWORD}" \
+          ''${NEXTCLOUD_DIR} \
+          ''${NEXTCLOUD_URL}
+        '';
+        TimeoutStopSec = "180";
+        KillMode = "process";
+        KillSignal = "SIGINT";
+      };
+      Install.WantedBy = ["multi-user.target"];
+    };
+  };
+  systemd.user.timers = {
+    nextcloud-sync = {
+      Unit.Description = "Automatic sync files with Nextcloud when booted up after 5 minutes then rerun every 10 minutes";
+      Timer.OnUnitActiveSec = "10min";
+      Install.WantedBy = ["multi-user.target" "timers.target"];
+    };
+  };
+  systemd.user.startServices = true;
+```
+
+= Conclusions
+
++ Yes setting things up from a minimal iso is harder than in Manjaro. Although
+  I got everything I wanted working, there were many times I felt like giving
+  up. (Aside: I am _so grateful_ for Manjaro, and Arch wikis). That said, I
+  expect this friction is a one-time cost for building familiarity with Nix,
+  and well worth the benefits that come with it.
++ You bet Wayland is ready. Multi-monitor works out-of-the-box, all my apps
+  support it, and things just _feel_ more polished than I have ever felt with
+  Xorg.
++ `dwl` is as awesome as I had hoped! This is my daily driver now.
+
+= My configs
+
+All the configs discussed (and more) are in my
+#extlink("https://gitlab.com/kdam0/dotfiles-nix")[nixdotfiles repo].
+]