Did you use an approach like the blog or one with nix-darwin, home-manager, and flakes? Not trying to convince you to try again since you seem done, but want a

Did you use an approach like the blog or one with nix-darwin, home-manager, and flakes? Not trying to convince you to try again since you seem done, but want any prospective nix users to know which approach you found painful. And if you don't mind, a list of the most painful things that should be improved.