Published on 2023-10-24
Nix home-manager has a lot of services. In fact, I don’t think I manage any configuration files myself except for my Emacs configuration. From daemon, to email, to bash, it’s covered.
In nix term, a program is a package + configuration, while a service is a program with an autorun.
Configure account specific information. From email addresses to imap or smtp server details. This information is reused by many mail related tools.
| nix | guix | comment |
|---|---|---|
| accounts.email.accounts.* | manual | configure email accounts w/ user/pass, email addresses, etc |
| accounts.email.accounts.*.imap | manual | imap conf for account |
| accounts.email.accounts.*.smtp | manual | smtp conf for account |
| accounts.email.accounts.*.msmtp.enable | manual | send email with msmtp |
| accounts.email.accounts.*.imapnotify | manual | enable goimapnotify support |
| accounts.email.accounts.*.notmuch.enable | manual | enable notmuch for account |
| accounts.email.accounts.*.mbsync | manual | enable mbsync for account |
These elements configure X and how to load X with Xsession.
| nix | guix | comment |
|---|---|---|
| fonts.fontconfig.enable | unclear if I need this-command | enable font config |
| xresources.properties | home-files-service-type (manual) | configure xresources and load it with k/v |
| xsession.enable | home-files-service-type (manual) | |
| xsession.initExtra | home-files-service-type (manual) | |
| xsession.windowManager.command | home-files-service-type (manual) | command to run to start my window manager |
Programs in Nix are used to install and configure applications or tools.
| nix | guix | comment |
|---|---|---|
| programs.autorandr.enable | autorandr | |
| programs.autorandr.profiles | missing: install config | map of profiles and config |
| programs.bash.enable | bash-service-type | enables bash. .bash_profile loads .bashrc, default .profile loading home managers session vars |
| programs.bash.enableCompletion | home-bash-configuration bashrc (manual) | enables completion |
| programs.bash.initExtra | home-bash-configuration bashrc | adds to .bashrc for interactive shells (after check interactive) |
| programs.bash.profileExtra | home-shell-profile-configuration | adds extra at the end of .profile |
| programs.bash.sessionVariables | home-environment-variables-service-type | adds extra exports to .profile using k/v map |
| programs.bash.shellOptions | home-bash-configuration bashrc (manual) | adds shopts to interactive .bashrc using k/v map |
| programs.bash.shellAliases | home-bash-configuration aliases | adds aliases to .bashrc using k/v map |
| programs.bash.logoutExtra | home-bash-configuration bash-logout | adds extra to .bash_logout |
| home.sessionPath | home-environment-variables-service-type (manual) | add dir to PATH in .profile |
| programs.direnv.enable | direnv w/ home-bash-configuration bashrc (manual) | enables direnv in .bashrc interactive |
| programs.direnv.nix-direnv.enable | home-file-service-type for use guix |
from guix cookbook |
| programs.emacs.enable | I will install my config with home-files-service-type | enable configuration of emacs |
| programs.emacs.package | pick the right emacs 29 + nativecomp | which emacs package to use |
| programs.emacs.extraPackages | extend the package if needed | which extra nix packages is added to the dependencies / visible to emacs. the rest I pull with straight |
| programs.git.enable | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | configure git |
| programs.git.package | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | package to use |
| programs.git.userEmail | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | |
| programs.git.userName | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | user name |
| programs.git.aliases | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | aliases k/v map |
| programs.git.attributes | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | attributes k/v map |
| programs.git.difftastic.enable | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | enable difftastic |
| programs.git.signing | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | set signing key |
| programs.git.extraConfig | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | extra config k/v |
| programs.mbsync.enable=true; | home-files-service-type (manual) | configures mbsync |
| programs.msmtp.enable | home-files-service-type (manual) | |
| programs.notmuch.enable | home-files-service-type (manual) | |
| programs.notmuch.new.tags | home-files-service-type (manual) | |
| programs.notmuch.search.excludeTags | home-files-service-type (manual) | |
| programs.notmuch.maildir.synchronizeFlags | home-files-service-type (manual) | |
| programs.notmuch.hooks | home-files-service-type (manual) | |
| programs.ncspot.enable | missing, nix for now | configure ncspot |
| programs.ncspot.settings | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | k/v of settings. |
| programs.password-store.enable | password-store | enables |
| programs.password-store.settings | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | k/v |
| programs.qutebrowser.enable | nixpkgs | since qute on guix does not work for all that I use |
| programs.qutebrowser.loadAutoconfig | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | |
| programs.qutebrowser.extraConfig | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | |
| programs.qutebrowser.keyBindings | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | |
| programs.rofi.enable | rofi | configure rofi |
| programs.rofi.font | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | font to use |
| programs.rofi.theme | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | theme to use |
| programs.rofi.terminal | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | terminal to use |
| programs.rofi.extraConfig | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | extra config to add |
| programs.starship.enable | found in 3rd party channel | adds starship setup to .bashrc |
| programs.starship.settings | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) | i disable stuff |
Services are programs which are autolaunched in various ways: shepherd, from Xsession, from a
startup script.
| nix | guix | comment |
|---|---|---|
| services.syncthing.enable | home-syncthing-service-type | start syncthing user daemon |
| services.gpg-agent.enable | home-gpg-service-type | enable agent |
| services.gpg-agent.enableScDaemon | there is a system service, unclear what else | enable support for yubikey |
| services.gpg-agent.enableSshSupport | home-gpg-agent-configuration ssh-support? | enable gpg agent as ssh agent |
| services.gpg-agent.sshKeys | home-openssh-configuration | specify keys to load |
| abandon | ||
| abandon | k/v | |
| services.imapnotify.enable | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type (manual) w/ shepherd | |
| services.mbsync.enable=false; | home-files-service-type (manual) | since I start mbsync with imapnotify |
| services.dunst.enable | home-files-service-type w/ xsession.initExtra (manual) | |
| services.picom.enable | home-files-service-type w/ xsession.initExtra (manual) | |
| services.sxhkd.enable | xsession.initExtra (manual) | |
| services.sxhkd.keybindings | home-files-service-type w/ xsession.initExtra (manual) | k/v |
| services.dwm-status.enable | xsession.initExtra (manual) | |
| services.dwm-status.order | home-files-service-type w/ xsession.initExtra (manual) | array of info to see |
| services.dwm-status.extraConfig | home-files-service-type w/ xsession.initExtra (manual) | k/v |
| services.screen-locker.enable | xsession.initExtra (manual) | enables auto locking |
| services.screen-locker.lockCmd | home-files-service-type w/ xsession.initExtra (manual) | process to start when locking |
| services.poweralertd.enable | home-batsignal-service-type | |
| services.unclutter.enable | home-unclutter-service-type |
Where I want to supply my own complete dotfile, I use home.file to install it. In nix, it’s really just for few.
My strategy for getting Guix running ASAP for missing services or programs is to capture my current
configuration files and install them with a similar guix home service.
| nix | guix | comment |
|---|---|---|
| home.file.abcde | home-files-service-type | copy dotfile |
| home.file.emacs-init | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type | basic home file copy of my emacs init file to ~/.config/emacs |
| home.file.local-bin | home-files-service-type | copy my small shell scripts to ~./local/bin |
| home.file.lynx | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type | copy dotfile |
| home.file.surfraw | home-xdg-configuration-files-service-type | copy dotfile |
I found couple of services like dunst in 3rd party channels. Once I have a working setup, I should be looking at them + RDE which has a lot of good home services, on top of writing my own.
I know this works and can work.
I’ve got solutions for everything, the next steps are:
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