34 lines
1.5 KiB
Markdown
34 lines
1.5 KiB
Markdown
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---
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title: One configuration language to rule them all
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date: 2024-11-21
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permalink: daily/2024/11/21/one-configuration-language-to-rule-them-all
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tags:
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- software-development
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- linux
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- nix
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cta: ~
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snippet: |
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No more YAML, TOML, INI or JSON configuration files for me.
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---
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I started using the Nix package manager [in September 2022][0] as a replacement for Ansible.
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Since then, I've switched to daily-driving NixOS as my main operating system and Home Manager to manage my dotfiles (configuration files for managing application settings, like Neovim, tmux and Alacritty).
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A benefit I didn't initially think of was that now I can write all my configuration files in the Nix language.
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I don't need to write YAML, TOML, INI or JSON configuration files. Nix and Home Manager will convert it for me.
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For example, see [my Git configuration written in Nix][1] which is converted and written to .gitignore.
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And, if there isn't a built-in module for what I need, there are functions like `toJSON` that will convert Nix code to JSON that I can write to a file.
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This is also great if a program changes its configuration file language, which Alacritty did recently.
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They changed from YAML to TOML and I didn't need to change anything.
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Nix has become my one configuration language to rule them all.
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[0]: https://github.com/opdavies/dotfiles.nix/commit/af1d8d37
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[1]: https://github.com/opdavies/dotfiles/blob/172b7c9ca61d2dd6ffdc967af9102b1ca24edd81/nix/modules/home-manager/git.nix#L25
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