[brainlessdev]

Author here, posting a self-review.

I've realized most of my blog post is not really about NixOS, it's just about this particular TUXEDO laptop requiring special tweaks to work properly. I've set up Debian 13 with Nix (plus Home Manager) in a VM to try it out and have realized that on the real laptop I would need to perform the same tweaks: install special drivers, install the TUXEDO Control Center (albeit using a supported .deb), and add those same kernel params. The only "care-free" option would be using TUXEDO OS, which I could explore. I've run NixOS on e.g. an AMD ThinkPad T14 and it was seamless, with no tweaks needed.

I suppose using something other than NixOS would indeed make some things easier (in my case Vanta, `pinentry` programs, Playwright and Cypress) and would perhaps let me live a more hands-off experience. I currently run `nix flake update` on my system way too often... but other than that, NixOS is not really getting in the way, at least as far as using this laptop goes.

[phibz]

Excellent write up and great real world review. You mentioned wanting to become a generalist.

The missing applet for tuxedo-rs would be a great opportunity to "scratch an itch" and learn some new technology.

You have some options on the language you write the applet in if you're not ready to jump in to Rust or C.

Might be a great way to learn some stuff outside of web development.

Good luck.