I've never used NixOS, so I have no horse in this race, but I'm not sure this write-up is entirely fair.
The first issue you describe is that you already have alternative Nix-like solutions in particular domains (R packages), and Nix let you continue using them. Is this not desirable though? You have the choice of letting Nix handle this, or carving out a Nix-less niche to continue using existing / more cross-compatible solutions.
The second issue is that support for games is weak in NixOS. But is this surprising? You're running games via emulation on a niche OS, where neither the game or the emulation tools you're using officially support NixOS. I'd say the fact NixOS can run these games at all is very impressive. Other alt-OSes, like Haiku, would not be able to do so.
The third issue is that you seem to need to edit /etc/hosts to be able to connect to captive portals on public WiFi. Do you? I'm on Linux, and I don't.
It honestly seems like Nix requires more tinkering than you were willing to do to get it set up, and that's an absolutely valid decision to make - it's the reason I don't use Arch, for example - but I feel like your article frames this as an issue with Nix, which seems a little disingenuous.
The first issue you describe is that you already have alternative Nix-like solutions in particular domains (R packages), and Nix let you continue using them. Is this not desirable though? You have the choice of letting Nix handle this, or carving out a Nix-less niche to continue using existing / more cross-compatible solutions.
The second issue is that support for games is weak in NixOS. But is this surprising? You're running games via emulation on a niche OS, where neither the game or the emulation tools you're using officially support NixOS. I'd say the fact NixOS can run these games at all is very impressive. Other alt-OSes, like Haiku, would not be able to do so.
The third issue is that you seem to need to edit /etc/hosts to be able to connect to captive portals on public WiFi. Do you? I'm on Linux, and I don't.
It honestly seems like Nix requires more tinkering than you were willing to do to get it set up, and that's an absolutely valid decision to make - it's the reason I don't use Arch, for example - but I feel like your article frames this as an issue with Nix, which seems a little disingenuous.