I am going with the "configuration syntax is complex and difficult..." rather than deny the reality of actual people who have set out to use this system.
Would not be the first time developers and fans have disagreed with users. side with the users every time (except when that developer is me)
I guess it's by comparison.
Whenever some NodeJS or Python project is mentioned, I've never seen the complaint "NodeJS syntax is too hard" or "Python syntax is too hard".
Nix's syntax itself is not difficult. It's slightly different than other languages, but developers are used to same-thing-different-syntax in different languages.
e.g. in NodeJS, you might have a lambda like: `({ x, y }) => x + y`. In Python, this is `lambda x, y: x + y'. In Nix, this is `{ x, y }: x + y`.
Because their syntax is used for more than just configuration (if it's used for configuration). These are full programming languages that a lot of people know and understand.
Nix on the other hand is a DSL that is used in exactly one place: nix configuration. So I think it's fair to complain about nix-as-a-language and its syntax when the only place you will ever encounter it is nix configuration.
And especially with gems like
--- start quote ---
Attempting to perform division in Nix can lead to some surprises.
nix-repl> 6/3
/home/nix/6/3
nix-repl> 6/ 3
2
nix-repl> builtins.div 6 3
2
etc.
I think it's also a bit impractical. I'd be surprised if anyone refused to use Terraform because they didn't like HCL. (Well, these days there's Pulumi). -- I think Nix's boon to managing packages makes it worth the minor unfamiliarity of a very simple programming language.
One-off, poorly specified DSLs with no tool support, no debuggability, bad error reporting etc. are a good thing only in theory.
In practice, yes, we often have to use them because there's no other choice. It doesn't mean "oh just get over it, and reap the benefits" is a good argument.
Pulumi is based on real programming languages. The criticism might be that their libraries/API is poorly specified. But the languages it's based upon are standard with all the tooling one's used to.