My first attempt at running NixOS

configuration.nix

# Edit this configuration file to define what should be installed on
# your system.  Help is available in the configuration.nix(5) man page
# and in the NixOS manual (accessible by running `nixos-help`).

{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }: {
  imports = [
    #<nixos-hardware/dell/inspiron/14-5420>
    # Include the results of the hardware scan.
    ./hardware-configuration.nix
  ];

  boot = {
    blacklistedKernelModules = [
      "snd_hda_codec_hdmi"
    ];
    consoleLogLevel = 3;
    extraModprobeConfig =
    ''
    options i915 enable_fbc=1 enable_psr=2 fastboot=1 enable_guc=3
    options iwlwifi uapsd_disable=0 power_save=1 power_level=3
    options iwlmvm power_scheme=3
    options snd_hda_intel power_save=1 power_save_controller=1
    '';
    initrd = {
      compressor = "lz4";
      compressorArgs = [ "-l" "-9" ];
      services.udev.rules =
      ''
      SUBSYSTEM=="pci", ATTR{power/control}="auto"
      SUBSYSTEM=="scsi", ATTR{power/control}="auto"
      ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", TEST=="power/control", ATTR{power/control}="auto"
      '';
      verbose = false;
    };
    kernel.sysctl = {
      "kernel.printk" = "3 3 3 3";
      "vm.swappiness" = 180;
      "vm.watermark_boost_factor" = 0;
      "vm.watermark_scale_factor" = 125;
      "vm.page-cluster" = 0;
      "kernel.nmi_watchdog" = 0;
      "vm.dirty_writeback_centisecs" = 6000;
      "vm.dirty_ratio" = 3;
      "vm.dirty_background_ratio" = 1;
      "vm.laptop_mode" = 5;
      "vm.vfs_cache_pressure" = 50;
    };
    kernelPackages = pkgs.linuxKernel.packages.linux_lqx;
    kernelParams = [
      "quiet"
      "systemd.show_status=auto"
      "rd.udev.log_level=3"
      "vt.global_cursor_default=0"
    ];
    loader = {
      efi.canTouchEfiVariables = true;
      systemd-boot = {
        enable = true;
        configurationLimit = 3;
      };
      timeout = 0;
    };
  };

  console.keyMap = "us";

  documentation.dev.enable = true;

  environment = {
    localBinInPath = true;
    loginShellInit = "setterm -cursor on";
    systemPackages = with pkgs; [
      neovim
    ];
  };

  fileSystems = {
    "/" = { options = [ "defaults" "commit=60" ]; };
    "/home" = { options = [ "defaults" "commit=60" ]; };
    #"/home/frontear/Documents/archive" = {
    #  device = "/dev/disk/by-uuid/b518d260-c263-4a97-afbc-a616bd3f20c7";
    #  fsType = "btrfs";
    #  noCheck = true; # btrfs doesn't need check
    #  options = [ "defaults" "commit=120" "compress-force=zstd:15" "discard=async" ];
    #};
  };

  hardware = {
    enableAllFirmware = true;
    bluetooth.enable = false;
    cpu = {
      #amd.updateMicrocode = true;
      intel.updateMicrocode = true;
    };
    sensor = {
      hddtemp = {
        enable = true;
        drives = [
          "/dev/nvme0n1"
        ];
      };
    };
    wirelessRegulatoryDatabase = true;
  };

  i18n.defaultLocale = "en_US.UTF-8";

  location.provider = "geoclue2";

  networking = {
    dhcpcd.enable = false; # NetworkManager uses internal dhcp resolution
    hostName = "frontear-net";
    nameservers = [
      "1.1.1.1"
      "1.0.0.1"
      "2606:4700:4700::1111"
      "2606:4700:4700::1001"
    ];
    networkmanager = {
      enable = true;
      dns = "none"; # Disable DNS management, so networking.nameservers overrides correctly
      wifi.powersave = true; # TODO: options iwlwifi ... required?
    };
    stevenblack = {
      enable = true;
      block = [ "fakenews" "gambling" "porn" "social" ];
    };
  };

  nixpkgs.config.allowUnfree = true;

  powerManagement = {
    enable = true;
    cpuFreqGovernor = "powersave";
    cpufreq.max = 3000000;
  };

  programs = {
    zsh.enable = true;
  };

  security = {
    #polkit.enable = true;
    #polkit.extraConfig = '''';
    sudo.execWheelOnly = true;
  };

  services = {
    #auto-cpufreq.enable = true;
    btrfs.autoScrub = {
      enable = true;
      fileSystems = [
        "/home/frontear/Documents/archive"
      ];
    };
    fwupd.enable = true;
    geoclue2.enable = true;
    fstrim.enable = true;
    locate = {
      enable = true;
      package = pkgs.mlocate;
      localuser = null; # mlocate does not support this
    };
    pipewire = {
      enable = true;
      alsa.enable = true;
      audio.enable = true;
      jack.enable = true;
      pulse.enable = true;
      wireplumber.enable = true;
    };
    #power-profiles-daemon.enable = true;
    printing = {
      enable = true;
      cups-pdf.enable = true;
      drivers = [ pkgs.samsung-unified-linux-driver ];
    };
  };

  sound.enable = true;

  system = {
    # Copy the NixOS configuration file and link it from the resulting system
    # (/run/current-system/configuration.nix). This is useful in case you
    # accidentally delete configuration.nix.
    copySystemConfiguration = true;
    
    # This value determines the NixOS release from which the default
    # settings for stateful data, like file locations and database versions
    # on your system were taken. It's perfectly fine and recommended to leave
    # this value at the release version of the first install of this system.
    # Before changing this value read the documentation for this option
    # (e.g. man configuration.nix or on https://nixos.org/nixos/options.html).
    stateVersion = "23.11";
  };

  systemd.services = {
    "NetworkManager-wait-online".enable = false; # 3+ seconds of boot delay because of this
  };

  time = {
    hardwareClockInLocalTime = false;
    timeZone = "America/Toronto";
  };

  # Enable the X11 windowing system.
  # services.xserver.enable = true;

  # Configure keymap in X11
  # services.xserver.layout = "us";
  # services.xserver.xkbOptions = "eurosign:e,caps:escape";

  # Enable touchpad support (enabled default in most desktopManager).
  # services.xserver.libinput.enable = true;

  users = {
    extraUsers.frontear = {
      extraGroups = [ "networkmanager" "wheel" ];
      isNormalUser = true;
      shell = pkgs.zsh;
      packages = with pkgs; [
        eza
        fastfetch
        ranger
        tree
      ];
    };
  };

  zramSwap = {
    enable = true;
    algorithm = "zstd";
    memoryPercent = 70;
    priority = 100;
    swapDevices = 1;
  };
}

I'm choosing to abandon this for now because the learning curve is a lot steeper than I expected and documentation is really poor, unlike Arch Wiki. I simply do not have the time at this stage of my life to learn so much, and although the concept is very appealing, I simply cannot do anything for it now. Perhaps in the future I will reconsider it, but for now it will not be done.