Nix is Turing complete, but it's not a general purpose language. It is designed as a DSL for building software, and I think it's pretty nice for that. The Nick

Nix is Turing complete, but it's not a general purpose language. It is designed as a DSL for building software, and I think it's pretty nice for that. The Nickel rationale doc has some thoughts on why this might be the right call: https://github.com/tweag/nickel/blob/master/RATIONALE.md#turing-completeness https://github.com/tweag/nickel/blob/master/RATIONALE.md#tur... From my (limited) experience with another deliberately limited configuration DSL (CUE), I think more power in such DSLs will pan out better in the long run. Of course, it's not all one or the other: a powerful build DSL can still enforce useful discipline, and a Turing-complete language can still be thoughtfully designed around a special purpose. I think Nix demonstrates both pretty well, actually.