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That is why I said that I still know how to use basic Unix tools. If I am debugging something so frequently that I feel that I need to install my Nix configuration just to get productive there is something clearly going wrong.

For example, in $CURRENT_JOB we have a bastion host that gives access to the databases (not going to discuss if this is a good idea or not, this is how my company does). 90% of time I can do whatever I need just with what the bastion host offers (that doesn't have Nix), if I need to do further analysis I can copy some files between the bastion host and my computer to do further analysis.

I've gotten great mileage out of a ttyd-based container that runs bash with nix. Ttyd exposes the shell over web endpoint.

I can just drop it into the environment and pull in tools that I need using nix.

mise is a good middle ground.

I am not sure how mise would be a "good middle ground" compared to Nix, considering it is really easy to get a static binary version of Nix. Nowadays it even works standalone without creating a `/nix` directory, you can simply run the binary and it will create everything you need in `~/.local/state/nix` if I remember correctly. And of course Nix is way more powerful than mise.