I think I got the first part, including and up to
> If this still seems too complicated it would probably be better to just dive in and mess with it so you can physically see what's going on.
And it really seems like NixOS being _the_ correct :tm: solution for what I want from an home server. The problem is that Nix doesn't quite cover (or at least didn't when I first deeply looked) my needs (it lacked a useful Clickhouse package). And I don't even want to say "Nix should be simpler". I don't even think it _can_, it's fundamentally a complicated and complex problem to deal with!
My problem is solely with the Nix community. The amount of jargon-loving and argumentative "you shouldn't attempt what you are attempting in the first place" or "you are holding it wrong" gaslighting is really something :D
I think the point where you fail to grasp the problem is: Nobody is claiming that Nix can't do a thing. My complaint is: There is no way to find _the_ way to do the thing. And there seem to be multiple _incompatible_ ways to achieve any given state. Without any way to distinguish those (let's call them) camps for a new person. In this way it's everything Unix but dialled to eleven! You don't need to argue (for me) that anything _can_ be done. I'm getting that from "Turing complete". My problem is only the practice: How do I get there?
edit: I think my immediate problem is: How do I get the series of "commands" that a nix derivation will invoke? Kind of like "what's the receipt, that is being executed?" That's missing for a sensible repl-loop for me. I'm sure I'll be getting there. The capability that Nix offers is extremely appealing. But at the same time the documentation and community are unhelpful to the extreme