[thomastjeffery]

Like I said, after months of using NixOS, I do not understand how to write a simple Nix expression.

Where is this explained?

I am speaking from experience when I say the documentation is "absolute shit". Most of the useful documentation I have read comes from the deprecated wiki.

When I first installed NixOS, I had to read the source code for simple things like defining a user or getting samba set up, and still had to rely on the deprecated outdated wiki.

Three current state of documentation for NixOS is spread between the manual, deprecated wiki, and the source code itself. The manual barely shows how to get a simple system working, but as soon as you reach an edge case - which Nix itself is fantastically suited to handle - you have to start digging.

In time, documentation for NixOS will be mature and usable, but right now it is severely lacking, moreso than any other aspect.