Add daily email for 2024-11-23

No more random packages

source/_daily_emails/2024-11-23.md

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+---
+title: No more random packages
+date: 2024-11-23
+permalink: daily/2024/11/23/no-more-random-packages
+tags:
+  - software-development
+  - linux
+  - nix
+cta: ~
+snippet: |
+  On my computer, there are no more random or leftover packages or configuration files. Everything is managed with Nix and NixOS - making it easy to read, add to or edit my setup.
+---
+
+Do you know every software package installed on your computer?
+
+Do you know every configuration file you've added or edited?
+
+If you needed to create a new computer or server that matches your current configuration, how long would that take you?
+
+This is why I started automating my system and having tools like Ansible install and configure software instead of me doing it manually.
+
+But, that doesn't prevent anyone from adding more things or changing files on the fly.
+
+Nix and NixOS have a read-only store of packages and configuration files, and I can [read my dotfiles repository](https://github.com/opdavies/dotfiles) and see exactly what's installed and how it's configured.
+
+If I want to add or remove a package or change some configuration, I update a Nix file and rebuild my system.
+
+There are no more random, rogue or leftover packages.
+
+If I get a new computer or create a new server, I add it to my dotfiles repository and apply the configuration and I'm up and running in no time.