You need not perform your nix evaluation on the same device you are targeting. You can nix copy a system closure to your target and activate it, and there are a

You need not perform your nix evaluation on the same device you are targeting. You can nix copy a system closure to your target and activate it, and there are a number of tools in the nix ecosystem to make this easier. Granted, if you local machine is low on RAM, or isn't Linux, then you will be in trouble.