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Comment by shevy-java | Hacker News Reader

> entirely configuring it using Claude Code

This scares me. I would not want AI to run my computer systems.

I'm no AI booster by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not "run[ning] ... computer systems" in this case. Your NixOS setup is defined by declarative config files, and nix builds or updates a working system from them. AI in this case is just writing the config files, which you'd then (hopefully) read and at least vaguely understand before applying them.

It generates a config file. You can read it before applying it. While Nix may be nigh intractable to write for some people, it is quite a bit easier to read, and any shenanigans would immediately be noticed.

Let’s be honest, most people do not review the full output of Claude Code because of slop fatigue.

On NixOS in particular, unless it's something so esoteric that I know it's worth documenting (or so obscure that it's pointless to remember), things tend to be pretty self-descriptive and most changes are relatively small.

I mostly just check the diff, and if nothing looks particularly wrong, I commit it. I mostly care about the final result. Commits are there for eventual auditing, but they're not that important to me.

I (or an LLM) can always clean things up later, and there's plenty of time considering this is the configuration for however many machines I'll be using for the foreseeable future. I used to spend a lot more time tinkering with configs that could be wiped out by a failed Windows Update.

I'm a 35-year professional sys admin, so you'd think I'd have really strong opinions about how exactly it sets the system up. Or maybe I have enough experience that I can just eyeball what it's doing and feel comfortable? I'm not sure.

Kind of reminds me of the movie Ronin where the young guy is asking the seasoned CIA guy what gun he likes. "It doesn't matter, it's just a tool, I put it in my toolbox."

It writes into a configuration file that I git diff before applying.

that's quite interesting because I would love for AI to run my systems, given it is capable enough (and it is given right tools). Jarvis anyone?

Yep!

Just waiting for the dgx spark style system with proper bandwidth as nd a price point of max 1500 or winning the lottery.

But in 3 years I bet I will have Jarvis.

Told my wife already thatwe need a lab room

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