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      <p><a href="/daily/2024/11/25/nix-the-package-manager">As well as Nix managing packages</a> and <a href="/daily/2024/11/27/nix-as-an-operating-system">NixOS as your operating system</a>, you can use Nix to manage your user configuration and dotfiles.</p>

      <p>Enter, Home Manager.</p>

      <p>Home Manager is available as a module for NixOS and a standalone package for other Linux distributions and macOS.</p>

      <p>With it, you can install and configure programs for specific users and create and manage dotfiles such as .gitconfig, .tmux.conf and .zshrc instead of using a tool like Stow.</p>

      <p>There's also the extra benefit that <a href="/daily/2024/11/21/one-configuration-language-to-rule-them-all">you can write these files in the Nix language</a> and only focus on one configuration language.</p>

      <p>Nix and Home Manager will create the desired output file in whatever the program wants, whether it's JSON, ini, YAML or something else.</p>

      <p>A good example is <a href="https://github.com/opdavies/dotfiles/blob/3acd73f6a2e19eadcc16baf22afad5dfad5e049b/nix/modules/home-manager/features/cli/git.nix">my .gitconfig configuration</a>. It includes settings for Git itself, aliases, global excludes, adds extra packages such as <a href="https://zet.oliverdavies.uk/notes/10">git-instafix</a> and some environment variables.</p>

      <p>All in one file and all in one language.</p>

              
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    processed: |
      <p><a href="http://default/daily/2024/11/25/nix-the-package-manager">As well as Nix managing packages</a> and <a href="http://default/daily/2024/11/27/nix-as-an-operating-system">NixOS as your operating system</a>, you can use Nix to manage your user configuration and dotfiles.</p>

      <p>Enter, Home Manager.</p>

      <p>Home Manager is available as a module for NixOS and a standalone package for other Linux distributions and macOS.</p>

      <p>With it, you can install and configure programs for specific users and create and manage dotfiles such as .gitconfig, .tmux.conf and .zshrc instead of using a tool like Stow.</p>

      <p>There's also the extra benefit that <a href="http://default/daily/2024/11/21/one-configuration-language-to-rule-them-all">you can write these files in the Nix language</a> and only focus on one configuration language.</p>

      <p>Nix and Home Manager will create the desired output file in whatever the program wants, whether it's JSON, ini, YAML or something else.</p>

      <p>A good example is <a href="https://github.com/opdavies/dotfiles/blob/3acd73f6a2e19eadcc16baf22afad5dfad5e049b/nix/modules/home-manager/features/cli/git.nix">my .gitconfig configuration</a>. It includes settings for Git itself, aliases, global excludes, adds extra packages such as <a href="https://zet.oliverdavies.uk/notes/10">git-instafix</a> and some environment variables.</p>

      <p>All in one file and all in one language.</p>

              
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