Add daily email for 2024-11-21

One configuration language to rule them all

source/_daily_emails/2024-11-21.md

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+---
+title: One configuration language to rule them all
+date: 2024-11-21
+permalink: daily/2024/11/21/one-configuration-language-to-rule-them-all
+tags:
+  - software-development
+  - linux
+  - nix
+cta: ~
+snippet: |
+  No more YAML, TOML, INI or JSON configuration files for me.
+---
+
+I started using the Nix package manager [in September 2022][0] as a replacement for Ansible.
+
+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).
+
+A benefit I didn't initially think of was that now I can write all my configuration files in the Nix language.
+
+I don't need to write YAML, TOML, INI or JSON configuration files. Nix and Home Manager will convert it for me.
+
+For example, see [my Git configuration written in Nix][1] which is converted and written to .gitignore.
+
+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.
+
+This is also great if a program changes its configuration file language, which Alacritty did recently.
+
+They changed from YAML to TOML and I didn't need to change anything.
+
+Nix has become my one configuration language to rule them all.
+
+[0]: https://github.com/opdavies/dotfiles.nix/commit/af1d8d37
+[1]: https://github.com/opdavies/dotfiles/blob/172b7c9ca61d2dd6ffdc967af9102b1ca24edd81/nix/modules/home-manager/git.nix#L25