[fesc]

Wow, I have never got that error but I haven't used nix-env much.

Yeah, to be honest familiarity with the NixOS module system doesn't hurt for home-manager. For me it was worth it but I was also just interested in Nix enough to read through the Nix-pills, etc.

Maybe given some time Nix will be polished enough that a smaller time investment will be enough.

Another thing: Yes, even if customizing your home-manager config could lead to hard to debug errors, once it works it is hard to brick and it will most likely work on new Laptops, colleagues machines, ...

That's why for my small at work my colleagues don't have to be as deep into Nix as I am but they can still benefit from the changes I am introducing in a pretty "safe" way.