get sane.packages to work better. still needs cleanup

hosts/by-name/desko/default.nix

@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
     ./fs.nix
   ];
 
+  # sane.packages.enableDevPkgs = true;
+
   sane.roles.client = true;
   sane.services.wg-home.enable = true;
   sane.services.wg-home.ip = config.sane.hosts.by-name."desko".wg-home.ip;

hosts/by-name/lappy/default.nix

@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
   sane.services.wg-home.enable = true;
   sane.services.wg-home.ip = config.sane.hosts.by-name."lappy".wg-home.ip;
 
+  # sane.packages.enableDevPkgs = true;
+
   # sane.guest.enable = true;
   sane.gui.sway.enable = true;
   sane.persist.enable = true;

hosts/by-name/moby/default.nix

@@ -41,12 +41,10 @@
     ".config/pulse"  # persist pulseaudio volume
   ];
 
-  sane.programs."pkgs.plasma5Packages.konsole" = {
+  # sane.packages.enableGuiPkgs = false;  # XXX faster builds/imaging for debugging
-    # more reliable terminal
+  sane.packages.extraUserPkgs = [
-    # TODO: move to gui/phosh
+    pkgs.plasma5Packages.konsole  # terminal
-    package = pkgs.plasma5Packages.konsole;
+  ];
-    enableFor.user.colin = true;
-  };
 
   sane.nixcache.enable = true;
   sane.persist.enable = true;

hosts/by-name/servo/default.nix

@@ -8,13 +8,12 @@
     ./services
   ];
 
-  sane.programs = {
+  sane.packages.extraUserPkgs = with pkgs; [
     # for administering services
-    freshrss.enableFor.user.colin = true;
+    freshrss
-    matrix-synapse.enableFor.user.colin = true;
+    matrix-synapse
-    signaldctl.enableFor.user.colin = true;
+    signaldctl
-  };
+  ];
-
   sane.persist.enable = true;
   sane.services.dyn-dns.enable = true;
   sane.services.wg-home.enable = true;

hosts/common/default.nix

@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@
   ];
 
   sane.nixcache.enable-trusted-keys = true;
-  sane.programs.sysadminUtils.enableFor.system = true;
+  sane.packages.enableConsolePkgs = true;
-  sane.programs.consoleUtils.enableFor.user.colin = true;
+  sane.packages.enableSystemPkgs = true;
 
   # some services which use private directories error if the parent (/var/lib/private) isn't 700.
   sane.fs."/var/lib/private".dir.acl.mode = "0700";

hosts/common/home/firefox.nix

@@ -146,11 +146,6 @@ in
   };
 
   config = {
-    sane.programs.web-browser = {
-      inherit package;
-      # TODO: define the persistence & fs config here
-    };
-    sane.programs.guiApps.suggestedPrograms = [ "web-browser" ];
 
     # uBlock filter list configuration.
     # specifically, enable the GDPR cookie prompt blocker.
@@ -176,6 +171,8 @@ in
       // see: <https://librewolf.net/docs/faq/#im-getting-sec_error_ocsp_server_error-what-can-i-do>
       defaultPref("security.OCSP.require", false);
     '';
+
+    sane.packages.extraGuiPkgs = [ package ];
     # flush the cache to disk to avoid it taking up too much tmp
     sane.user.persist.byPath."${cfg.browser.cacheDir}" = lib.mkIf (cfg.persistCache != null) {
       store = cfg.persistCache;

hosts/common/programs.nix

@@ -1,329 +1,21 @@
-{ lib, pkgs, ... }:
+{ pkgs, ... }:
-
-let
-  inherit (builtins) attrNames concatLists;
-  inherit (lib) mapAttrs mapAttrsToList mkDefault mkMerge optional;
-
-  sysadminPkgs = {
-    inherit (pkgs // {
-      # XXX can't `inherit` a nested attr, so we move them to the toplevel
-      "cacert.unbundled" = pkgs.cacert.unbundled;
-    })
-      btrfs-progs
-      "cacert.unbundled"  # some services require unbundled /etc/ssl/certs
-      cryptsetup
-      dig
-      efibootmgr
-      fatresize
-      fd
-      file
-      gawk
-      git
-      gptfdisk
-      hdparm
-      htop
-      iftop
-      inetutils  # for telnet
-      iotop
-      iptables
-      jq
-      killall
-      lsof
-      nano
-      netcat
-      nethogs
-      nmap
-      openssl
-      parted
-      pciutils
-      powertop
-      pstree
-      ripgrep
-      screen
-      smartmontools
-      socat
-      strace
-      tcpdump
-      tree
-      usbutils
-      wget
-    ;
-  };
-
-  consolePkgs = {
-    inherit (pkgs)
-      backblaze-b2
-      cdrtools
-      dmidecode
-      duplicity
-      efivar
-      flashrom
-      fwupd
-      ghostscript  # TODO: imagemagick wrapper should add gs to PATH
-      gnupg
-      gocryptfs
-      gopass
-      gopass-jsonapi
-      ifuse
-      imagemagick
-      ipfs
-      kitty  # TODO: move to GUI, but `ssh servo` from kitty sets `TERM=xterm-kitty` in the remove and breaks things
-      libimobiledevice
-      libsecret  # for managing user keyrings
-      lm_sensors  # for sensors-detect
-      lshw
-      ffmpeg
-      memtester
-      networkmanager
-      nixpkgs-review
-      # nixos-generators
-      # nettools
-      nmon
-      oathToolkit  # for oathtool
-      # ponymix
-      pulsemixer
-      python3
-      rsync
-      # python3Packages.eyeD3  # music tagging
-      sane-scripts
-      sequoia
-      snapper
-      sops
-      sox
-      speedtest-cli
-      sqlite  # to debug sqlite3 databases
-      ssh-to-age
-      sudo
-      # tageditor  # music tagging
-      unar
-      visidata
-      w3m
-      wireguard-tools
-      # youtube-dl
-      yt-dlp
-    ;
-  };
-
-  guiPkgs = {
-    inherit (pkgs // (with pkgs; {
-      # XXX can't `inherit` a nested attr, so we move them to the toplevel
-      # TODO: could use some "flatten attrs" helper instead
-      "gnome.cheese" = gnome.cheese;
-      "gnome.dconf-editor" = gnome.dconf-editor;
-      "gnome.file-roller" = gnome.file-roller;
-      "gnome.gnome-disk-utility" = gnome.gnome-disk-utility;
-      "gnome.gnome-maps" = gnome.gnome-maps;
-      "gnome.nautilus" = gnome.nautilus;
-      "gnome.gnome-system-monitor" = gnome.gnome-system-monitor;
-      "gnome.gnome-terminal" = gnome.gnome-terminal;
-      "gnome.gnome-weather" = gnome.gnome-weather;
-      "libsForQt5.plasmatube" = libsForQt5.plasmatube;
-    }))
-      aerc  # email client
-      audacity
-      celluloid  # mpv frontend
-      chromium
-      clinfo
-      dino
-      electrum
-      element-desktop
-      emote
-      evince  # works on phosh
-
-      # { pkg = fluffychat-moby; dir = [ ".local/share/chat.fluffy.fluffychat" ]; }  # TODO: ship normal fluffychat on non-moby?
-
-      foliate  # e-book reader
-      font-manager
-
-      # XXX by default fractal stores its state in ~/.local/share/<UUID>.
-      # after logging in, manually change ~/.local/share/keyrings/... to point it to some predictable subdir.
-      # then reboot (so that libsecret daemon re-loads the keyring...?)
-      # { pkg = fractal-latest; private = [ ".local/share/fractal" ]; }
-      # { pkg = fractal-next; private = [ ".local/share/fractal" ]; }
-
-      gajim  # XMPP client
-      gimp  # broken on phosh
-      "gnome.cheese"
-      "gnome.dconf-editor"
-      gnome-feeds  # RSS reader (with claimed mobile support)
-      "gnome.file-roller"
-      "gnome.gnome-disk-utility"
-      "gnome.gnome-maps"  # works on phosh
-      "gnome.nautilus"
-      # gnome-podcasts
-      "gnome.gnome-system-monitor"
-      "gnome.gnome-terminal"  # works on phosh
-      "gnome.gnome-weather"
-      gpodder-configured
-      gthumb
-      inkscape
-      kdenlive
-      kid3  # audio tagging
-      krita
-      libreoffice-fresh  # XXX colin: maybe don't want this on mobile
-      lollypop
-      mpv
-      networkmanagerapplet
-      newsflash
-      nheko
-      obsidian
-      pavucontrol
-      # picard  # music tagging
-      playerctl
-      "libsForQt5.plasmatube"  # Youtube player
-      soundconverter
-      # sublime music persists any downloaded albums here.
-      # it doesn't obey a conventional ~/Music/{Artist}/{Album}/{Track} notation, so no symlinking
-      # config (e.g. server connection details) is persisted in ~/.config/sublime-music/config.json
-      #   possible to pass config as a CLI arg (sublime-music -c config.json)
-      # { pkg = sublime-music; dir = [ ".local/share/sublime-music" ]; }
-      sublime-music-mobile
-      tdesktop  # broken on phosh
-      tokodon
-      vlc
-      # pleroma client (Electron). input is broken on phosh.
-      whalebird
-      xdg-utils  # for xdg-open
-      xterm  # broken on phosh
-    ;
-  };
-  x86GuiPkgs = {
-    inherit (pkgs)
-      discord
-
-      # kaiteki  # Pleroma client
-      # gnome.zenity # for kaiteki (it will use qarma, kdialog, or zenity)
-      # gpt2tc  # XXX: unreliable mirror
-
-      # TODO(unpin): handbrake is broken on aarch64-linux 2023/01/29
-      handbrake
-
-      logseq
-      losslesscut-bin
-      makemkv
-      monero-gui
-      signal-desktop
-      spotify
-      tor-browser-bundle-bin
-      zecwallet-lite
-    ;
-  };
-
-  # define -- but don't enable -- the packages in some attrset.
-  # use `mkDefault` for the package here so we can customize some of them further down this file
-  declarePkgs = pkgsAsAttrs: mapAttrs (_n: p: {
-    package = mkDefault p;
-  }) pkgsAsAttrs;
-in
 {
-  config = {
+  sane.programs = {
-    sane.programs = mkMerge [
+    btrfs-progs.enableFor.system = true;
-      (declarePkgs sysadminPkgs)
+    # "cacert.unbundled".enableFor.system = true;
-      (declarePkgs consolePkgs)
+    cryptsetup.enableFor.system = true;
-      (declarePkgs guiPkgs)
+    dig = {
-      (declarePkgs x86GuiPkgs)
+      enableFor.system = true;
-      {
+      suggestedPrograms = [ "efibootmgr" ];
-        # link the various package sets into their own meta packages
+    };
-        sysadminUtils = {
+    efibootmgr = {};
-          package = null;
+    fatresize = {};
-          suggestedPrograms = attrNames sysadminPkgs;
-        };
-        consoleUtils = {
-          package = null;
-          suggestedPrograms = attrNames consolePkgs;
-        };
-        guiApps = {
-          package = null;
-          suggestedPrograms = (attrNames guiPkgs)
-            ++ optional (pkgs.system == "x86_64-linux") "x86GuiApps";
-        };
-        x86GuiApps = {
-          package = null;
-          suggestedPrograms = attrNames x86GuiPkgs;
-        };
-      }
-      {
-        # nontrivial package definitions
-        imagemagick.package = pkgs.imagemagick.override {
-          ghostscriptSupport = true;
-        };
 
-        dino.private = [ ".local/share/dino" ];
+    backblaze-b2.enableFor.user.colin = true;
-
+    cdrtools = {
-        # creds, but also 200 MB of node modules, etc
+      enableFor.user.colin = true;
-        discord = {
+      suggestedPrograms = [ "dmidecode" ];
-          package = pkgs.discord.override {
+    };
-            # XXX 2022-07-31: fix to allow links to open in default web-browser:
+    dmidecode = {};
-            #   https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/78961
-            nss = pkgs.nss_latest;
-          };
-          private = [ ".config/discord" ];
-        };
-
-        # creds/session keys, etc
-        element-desktop.private = [ ".config/Element" ];
-
-        # `emote` will show a first-run dialog based on what's in this directory.
-        # mostly, it just keeps a LRU of previously-used emotes to optimize display order.
-        # TODO: package [smile](https://github.com/mijorus/smile) for probably a better mobile experience.
-        emote.dir = [ ".local/share/Emote" ];
-
-        # XXX: we preserve the whole thing because if we only preserve gPodder/Downloads
-        #   then startup is SLOW during feed import, and we might end up with zombie eps in the dl dir.
-        gpodder-configured.dir = [ "gPodder" ];
-
-        # actual monero blockchain (not wallet/etc; safe to delete, just slow to regenerate)
-        # XXX: is it really safe to persist this? it doesn't have info that could de-anonymize if captured?
-        monero-gui.dir = [ ".bitmonero" ];
-
-        mpv.dir = [ ".config/mpv/watch_later" ];
-
-        # not strictly necessary, but allows caching articles; offline use, etc.
-        newsflash.dir = [ ".local/share/news-flash" ];
-        nheko.private = [
-          ".config/nheko"  # config file (including client token)
-          ".cache/nheko"  # media cache
-          ".local/share/nheko"  # per-account state database
-        ];
-
-        # settings (electron app)
-        obsidian.dir = [ ".config/obsidian" ];
-
-        # creds, media
-        signal-desktop.private = [ ".config/Signal" ];
-
-
-        # creds, widevine .so download. TODO: could easily manage these statically.
-        spotify.dir = [ ".config/spotify" ];
-
-        # sublime music persists any downloaded albums here.
-        # it doesn't obey a conventional ~/Music/{Artist}/{Album}/{Track} notation, so no symlinking
-        # config (e.g. server connection details) is persisted in ~/.config/sublime-music/config.json
-        #   possible to pass config as a CLI arg (sublime-music -c config.json)
-        # { pkg = sublime-music; dir = [ ".local/share/sublime-music" ]; }
-        sublime-music-mobile.dir = [ ".local/share/sublime-music" ];
-
-        tdesktop.private = [ ".local/share/TelegramDesktop" ];
-
-        tokodon.private = [ ".cache/KDE/tokodon" ];
-
-        # hardenedMalloc solves a crash at startup
-        # TODO 2023/02/02: is this safe to remove yet?
-        tor-browser-bundle-bin.package = pkgs.tor-browser-bundle-bin.override {
-          useHardenedMalloc = false;
-        };
-
-        # vlc remembers play position in ~/.config/vlc/vlc-qt-interface.conf
-        vlc.dir = [ ".config/vlc" ];
-
-        whalebird.private = [ ".config/Whalebird" ];
-
-        # zcash coins. safe to delete, just slow to regenerate (10-60 minutes)
-        zecwallet-lite.private = [ ".zcash" ];
-      }
-    ];
-
-    # XXX: this might not be necessary. try removing this and cacert.unbundled (servo)?
-    environment.etc."ssl/certs".source = "${pkgs.cacert.unbundled}/etc/ssl/certs/*";
   };
 }

hosts/common/users.nix

@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ in
 
       shell = pkgs.zsh;
 
+      packages = builtins.map (p: p.pkg) config.sane.packages.enabledUserPkgs;
+
       # mount encrypted stuff at login
       # some other nix pam users:
       # - <https://github.com/g00pix/nixconf/blob/32c04f6fa843fed97639dd3f09e157668d3eea1f/profiles/sshfs.nix>

hosts/modules/gui/default.nix

@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ in
   };
 
   config = mkIf cfg.enable {
-    sane.programs.guiApps.enableFor.user.colin = mkDefault true;
+    sane.packages.enableGuiPkgs = mkDefault true;
 
     # preserve backlight brightness across power cycles
     # see `man systemd-backlight`

hosts/modules/gui/phosh.nix

@@ -77,13 +77,12 @@ in
         })
       ];
 
-      # TODO: refactor
+      sane.packages.extraUserPkgs = with pkgs; [
-      sane.programs = {
+        phosh-mobile-settings
-        phosh-mobile-settings.enableFor.user.colin = true;
 
         # TODO: see about removing this if the in-built gnome-settings bluetooth manager can work
-        "gnome.gnome-bluetooth".enableFor.user.colin = true;
+        gnome.gnome-bluetooth
-      };
+      ];
     }
     (mkIf cfg.useGreeter {
       services.xserver.enable = true;

hosts/modules/gui/sway.nix

@@ -625,19 +625,18 @@ in
     #   }
     # '';
 
-    # TODO: refactor
+    sane.packages.extraUserPkgs = with pkgs; [
-    sane.programs = {
+      swaylock
-      swaylock.enableFor.user.colin = true;
+      swayidle  # (unused)
-      swayidle.enableFor.user.colin = true;  # (unused)
+      wl-clipboard
-      wl-clipboard.enableFor.user.colin = true;
+      mako # notification daemon
-      mako.enableFor.user.colin = true; # notification daemon
+      xdg-utils  # for xdg-open
-      xdg-utils.enableFor.user.colin = true;  # for xdg-open
       # user stuff
       # pavucontrol
-      "sway-contrib.grimshot".enableFor.user.colin = true;
+      sway-contrib.grimshot
-      "gnome.gnome-bluetooth".enableFor.user.colin = true;
+      gnome.gnome-bluetooth
-      "gnome.gnome-control-center".enableFor.user.colin = true;
+      gnome.gnome-control-center
-    };
+    ];
   };
 }
 

modules/default.nix

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
     ./feeds.nix
     ./fs
     ./ids.nix
+    ./packages.nix
     ./programs.nix
     ./image.nix
     ./persist

modules/packages.nix

@@ -0,0 +1,331 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }:
+
+with lib;
+with pkgs;
+let
+  cfg = config.sane.packages;
+
+  imagemagick = pkgs.imagemagick.override {
+    ghostscriptSupport = true;
+  };
+
+  consolePkgs = [
+    backblaze-b2
+    cdrtools
+    dmidecode
+    duplicity
+    efivar
+    flashrom
+    fwupd
+    ghostscript  # TODO: imagemagick wrapper should add gs to PATH
+    gnupg
+    gocryptfs
+    gopass
+    gopass-jsonapi
+    ifuse
+    imagemagick
+    ipfs
+    kitty  # TODO: move to GUI, but `ssh servo` from kitty sets `TERM=xterm-kitty` in the remove and breaks things
+    libimobiledevice
+    libsecret  # for managing user keyrings
+    lm_sensors  # for sensors-detect
+    lshw
+    ffmpeg
+    memtester
+    networkmanager
+    nixpkgs-review
+    # nixos-generators
+    # nettools
+    nmon
+    oathToolkit  # for oathtool
+    # ponymix
+    pulsemixer
+    python3
+    rsync
+    # python3Packages.eyeD3  # music tagging
+    sane-scripts
+    sequoia
+    snapper
+    sops
+    sox
+    speedtest-cli
+    sqlite  # to debug sqlite3 databases
+    ssh-to-age
+    sudo
+    # tageditor  # music tagging
+    unar
+    visidata
+    w3m
+    wireguard-tools
+    # youtube-dl
+    yt-dlp
+  ];
+
+  guiPkgs = [
+    # GUI only
+    aerc  # email client
+    audacity
+    celluloid  # mpv frontend
+    chromium
+    clinfo
+    { pkg = dino; private = [ ".local/share/dino" ]; }
+    electrum
+
+    # creds/session keys, etc
+    { pkg = element-desktop; private = [ ".config/Element" ]; }
+    # `emote` will show a first-run dialog based on what's in this directory.
+    # mostly, it just keeps a LRU of previously-used emotes to optimize display order.
+    # TODO: package [smile](https://github.com/mijorus/smile) for probably a better mobile experience.
+    { pkg = emote; dir = [ ".local/share/Emote" ]; }
+    evince  # works on phosh
+
+    # { pkg = fluffychat-moby; dir = [ ".local/share/chat.fluffy.fluffychat" ]; }  # TODO: ship normal fluffychat on non-moby?
+
+    foliate  # e-book reader
+    font-manager
+
+    # XXX by default fractal stores its state in ~/.local/share/<UUID>.
+    # after logging in, manually change ~/.local/share/keyrings/... to point it to some predictable subdir.
+    # then reboot (so that libsecret daemon re-loads the keyring...?)
+    # { pkg = fractal-latest; private = [ ".local/share/fractal" ]; }
+    # { pkg = fractal-next; private = [ ".local/share/fractal" ]; }
+
+    gajim  # XMPP client
+    gimp  # broken on phosh
+    gnome.cheese
+    gnome.dconf-editor
+    gnome-feeds  # RSS reader (with claimed mobile support)
+    gnome.file-roller
+    gnome.gnome-disk-utility
+    gnome.gnome-maps  # works on phosh
+    gnome.nautilus
+    # gnome-podcasts
+    gnome.gnome-system-monitor
+    gnome.gnome-terminal  # works on phosh
+    gnome.gnome-weather
+
+    # XXX: we preserve the whole thing because if we only preserve gPodder/Downloads
+    #   then startup is SLOW during feed import, and we might end up with zombie eps in the dl dir.
+    { pkg = gpodder-configured; dir = [ "gPodder" ]; }
+
+    gthumb
+    inkscape
+
+    kdenlive
+    kid3  # audio tagging
+    krita
+    libreoffice-fresh  # XXX colin: maybe don't want this on mobile
+    lollypop
+
+    { pkg = mpv; dir = [ ".config/mpv/watch_later" ]; }
+
+    networkmanagerapplet
+
+    # not strictly necessary, but allows caching articles; offline use, etc.
+    { pkg = newsflash; dir = [ ".local/share/news-flash" ]; }
+
+    { pkg = nheko; private = [
+      ".config/nheko"  # config file (including client token)
+      ".cache/nheko"  # media cache
+      ".local/share/nheko"  # per-account state database
+    ]; }
+
+    # settings (electron app)
+    { pkg = obsidian; dir = [ ".config/obsidian" ]; }
+
+    pavucontrol
+    # picard  # music tagging
+    playerctl
+
+    libsForQt5.plasmatube  # Youtube player
+
+    soundconverter
+    # sublime music persists any downloaded albums here.
+    # it doesn't obey a conventional ~/Music/{Artist}/{Album}/{Track} notation, so no symlinking
+    # config (e.g. server connection details) is persisted in ~/.config/sublime-music/config.json
+    #   possible to pass config as a CLI arg (sublime-music -c config.json)
+    # { pkg = sublime-music; dir = [ ".local/share/sublime-music" ]; }
+    { pkg = sublime-music-mobile; dir = [ ".local/share/sublime-music" ]; }
+    { pkg = tdesktop; private = [ ".local/share/TelegramDesktop" ]; }  # broken on phosh
+
+    { pkg = tokodon; private = [ ".cache/KDE/tokodon" ]; }
+
+    # vlc remembers play position in ~/.config/vlc/vlc-qt-interface.conf
+    { pkg = vlc; dir = [ ".config/vlc" ]; }
+
+    # pleroma client (Electron). input is broken on phosh.
+    { pkg = whalebird; private = [ ".config/Whalebird" ]; }
+
+    xdg-utils  # for xdg-open
+    xterm  # broken on phosh
+  ]
+  ++ (if pkgs.system == "x86_64-linux" then
+  [
+    # x86_64 only
+
+    # creds, but also 200 MB of node modules, etc
+    (let discord = (pkgs.discord.override {
+      # XXX 2022-07-31: fix to allow links to open in default web-browser:
+      #   https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/78961
+      nss = pkgs.nss_latest;
+    }); in { pkg = discord; private = [ ".config/discord" ]; })
+
+    # kaiteki  # Pleroma client
+    # gnome.zenity # for kaiteki (it will use qarma, kdialog, or zenity)
+    # gpt2tc  # XXX: unreliable mirror
+
+    # TODO(unpin): handbrake is broken on aarch64-linux 2023/01/29
+    handbrake
+
+    logseq
+    losslesscut-bin
+    makemkv
+
+    # actual monero blockchain (not wallet/etc; safe to delete, just slow to regenerate)
+    { pkg = monero-gui; dir = [ ".bitmonero" ]; }
+
+    # creds, media
+    { pkg = signal-desktop; private = [ ".config/Signal" ]; }
+
+    # creds, widevine .so download. TODO: could easily manage these statically.
+    { pkg = spotify; dir = [ ".config/spotify" ]; }
+
+    # hardenedMalloc solves a crash at startup
+    (tor-browser-bundle-bin.override { useHardenedMalloc = false; })
+
+    # zcash coins. safe to delete, just slow to regenerate (10-60 minutes)
+    { pkg = zecwallet-lite; private = [ ".zcash" ]; }
+  ] else []);
+
+  # general-purpose utilities that we want any user to be able to access
+  #   (specifically: root, in case of rescue)
+  systemPkgs = [
+    btrfs-progs
+    cacert.unbundled  # some services require unbundled /etc/ssl/certs
+    cryptsetup
+    dig
+    efibootmgr
+    fatresize
+    fd
+    file
+    gawk
+    git
+    gptfdisk
+    hdparm
+    htop
+    iftop
+    inetutils  # for telnet
+    iotop
+    iptables
+    jq
+    killall
+    lsof
+    nano
+    netcat
+    nethogs
+    nmap
+    openssl
+    parted
+    pciutils
+    powertop
+    pstree
+    ripgrep
+    screen
+    smartmontools
+    socat
+    strace
+    tcpdump
+    tree
+    usbutils
+    wget
+  ];
+
+  # useful devtools:
+  devPkgs = [
+    bison
+    dtc
+    flex
+    gcc
+    gdb
+    # gcc-arm-embedded
+    # gcc_multi
+    gnumake
+    mercurial
+    mix2nix
+    rustup
+    swig
+  ];
+
+  pkgSpec = types.submodule {
+    options = {
+      pkg = mkOption {
+        type = types.package;
+      };
+      dir = mkOption {
+        type = types.listOf types.str;
+        default = [];
+        description = "list of home-relative paths to persist for this package";
+      };
+      private = mkOption {
+        type = types.listOf types.str;
+        default = [];
+        description = "list of home-relative paths to persist (in encrypted format) for this package";
+      };
+    };
+  };
+
+  toPkgSpec = types.coercedTo types.package (p: { pkg = p; }) pkgSpec;
+in
+{
+  options = {
+    # packages to deploy to the user's home
+    sane.packages.extraUserPkgs = mkOption {
+      default = [ ];
+      type = types.listOf toPkgSpec;
+    };
+    sane.packages.extraGuiPkgs = mkOption {
+      default = [ ];
+      type = types.listOf toPkgSpec;
+      description = "packages to only ship if gui's enabled";
+    };
+    sane.packages.enableConsolePkgs = mkOption {
+      default = false;
+      type = types.bool;
+    };
+    sane.packages.enableGuiPkgs = mkOption {
+      default = false;
+      type = types.bool;
+    };
+    sane.packages.enableDevPkgs = mkOption {
+      description = ''
+        enable packages that are useful for building other software by hand.
+        you should prefer to keep this disabled except when prototyping, e.g. packaging new software.
+      '';
+      default = false;
+      type = types.bool;
+    };
+    sane.packages.enableSystemPkgs = mkOption {
+      default = false;
+      type = types.bool;
+      description = "enable system-wide packages";
+    };
+
+    sane.packages.enabledUserPkgs = mkOption {
+      default = cfg.extraUserPkgs
+        ++ (if cfg.enableConsolePkgs then consolePkgs else [])
+        ++ (if cfg.enableGuiPkgs then guiPkgs ++ cfg.extraGuiPkgs else [])
+        ++ (if cfg.enableDevPkgs then devPkgs else [])
+      ;
+      type = types.listOf toPkgSpec;
+      description = "generated from other config options";
+    };
+  };
+
+  config = {
+    environment.systemPackages = mkIf cfg.enableSystemPkgs systemPkgs;
+    sane.user.persist.plaintext = concatLists (map (p: p.dir) cfg.enabledUserPkgs);
+    sane.user.persist.private = concatLists (map (p: p.private) cfg.enabledUserPkgs);
+    # XXX: this might not be necessary. try removing this and cacert.unbundled?
+    environment.etc."ssl/certs".source = mkIf cfg.enableSystemPkgs "${pkgs.cacert.unbundled}/etc/ssl/certs/*";
+  };
+}

modules/programs.nix

@@ -1,38 +1,13 @@
 { config, lib, pkgs, sane-lib, ... }:
 let
   inherit (builtins) any elem map;
-  inherit (lib)
+  inherit (lib) filterAttrs mapAttrs mapAttrsToList mkDefault mkIf mkMerge mkOption optionalAttrs types;
-    filterAttrs
-    hasAttrByPath
-    getAttrFromPath
-    mapAttrs
-    mapAttrsToList
-    mkDefault
-    mkIf
-    mkOption
-    optional
-    optionalAttrs
-    splitString
-    types
-  ;
   inherit (sane-lib) joinAttrsets;
   cfg = config.sane.programs;
   pkgSpec = types.submodule ({ name, ... }: {
     options = {
       package = mkOption {
-        type = types.nullOr types.package;
+        type = types.package;
-        description = ''
-          package, or `null` if the program is some sort of meta set (in which case it much EXPLICITLY be set null).
-        '';
-        default =
-          let
-            pkgPath = splitString "." name;
-          in
-            # package can be inferred by the attr name, allowing shorthand like
-            #   `sane.programs.nano.enable = true;`
-            # this indexing will throw if the package doesn't exist and the user forgets to specify
-            # a valid source explicitly.
-            getAttrFromPath pkgPath pkgs;
       };
       enableFor.system = mkOption {
         type = types.bool;
@@ -49,6 +24,11 @@ let
       };
       enableFor.user = mkOption {
         type = types.attrsOf types.bool;
+        # default = mkMerge (mapAttrsToList (_otherName: otherPkg:
+        #   optionalAttrs
+        #     (otherPkg.enableSuggested && elem name otherPkg.suggestedPrograms)
+        #     otherPkg.enableFor.user
+        # ) cfg);
         default = joinAttrsets (mapAttrsToList (otherName: otherPkg:
            optionalAttrs
              (otherName != name && elem name otherPkg.suggestedPrograms && otherPkg.enableSuggested)
@@ -82,17 +62,30 @@ let
       };
     };
 
+    config = {
+      # package can be inferred by the attr name, allowing shorthand like
+      # sane.packages.nano.enable = true;
+      package = mkIf (pkgs ? "${name}") (mkDefault pkgs."${name}");
+
+      # enableFor = mkIf (name == "btrfs-progs") (mkDefault cfg.cryptsetup.enableFor);
+
+      # enable this package if it's in the `suggestedPrograms` of any other enabled program
+      # enableFor = mkMerge (mapAttrsToList (_otherName: otherPkg:
+      #   optionalAttrs
+      #     (otherPkg.enableSuggested && elem name otherPkg.suggestedPrograms)
+      #     (mkDefault otherPkg.enableFor)
+      # ) cfg);
+    };
+
   });
   toPkgSpec = types.coercedTo types.package (p: { package = p; }) pkgSpec;
 
   configs = mapAttrsToList (_name: p: {
     # conditionally add to system PATH
-    environment.systemPackages = optional
+    environment.systemPackages = mkIf p.enableFor.system [ p.package ];
-      (p.package != null && p.enableFor.system)
-      p.package;
     # conditionally add to user(s) PATH
-    users.users = mapAttrs (user: en: {
+    users.users = mapAttrs (user: en: optionalAttrs en {
-      packages = optional (p.package != null && en) p.package;
+      packages = [ p.package ];
     }) p.enableFor.user;
     # conditionally persist relevant user dirs
     sane.users = mapAttrs (user: en: optionalAttrs en {
@@ -116,6 +109,23 @@ in
         users.users = f.users.users;
         sane.users = f.sane.users;
       };
-    in
+    in mkMerge [
-      take (sane-lib.mkTypedMerge take configs);
+      (take (sane-lib.mkTypedMerge take configs))
+      {
+        # sane.programs.cryptsetup.enableFor = mkDefault cfg.btrfs-progs.enableFor;
+        # sane.programs.cryptsetup.enableFor = mkMerge (mapAttrsToList (otherName: otherPkg:
+        #   optionalAttrs
+        #   (otherName != "cryptsetup")
+        #   (mkDefault otherPkg.enableFor)
+        # ) cfg);
+
+        # sane.programs = mapAttrs (myName: _me: optionalAttrs (myName == "btrfs-progs") {
+        #   enableFor = mkMerge (mapAttrsToList (otherName: otherPkg:
+        #     optionalAttrs
+        #     (otherName != "cryptsetup")
+        #     (mkDefault otherPkg.enableFor)
+        #   ) cfg);
+        # }) cfg;
+      }
+    ];
 }