I really want to like Nix. The idea of declaratively defining my entire system sounds great. I can manage it with Git and even have multiple machines all look the same. I can define my partititioning once and magically get a btrfs disk working. Wow!

But I find the language confusing no matter how many times people say it’s easy. I have a lot of experience with other programming languages so maybe it just doesn’t mesh. It also gives terrible error messages that are hard for me to understand. And Nixpkgs is unpredictable for what version I’m going to get. One of the services I installed ended up being a release candidate version which was a surprise. What if I don’t want the latest version of Docker? How do I pin it? Do I have to duplicate part of Nixpkgs? It just feels like a monorepo where everybody has to be on the same versions. Why on earth do the Nix language docs start by introducing math expressions instead of here is a simple self contained thing that installs one program. Here’s how you configure it. Here’s how you expand. Why does the dependency graph seem to pull in so many unnecessary dependencies? For example, I tried to build a minimal Docker image (which Nix looks to be a very good fit for), but I couldn’t figure out how to strip out dependencies that likely were only used during build for a dependency.

I still like the idea and have managed to get my server defined entirely with NixOS which is very cool, but I can’t recommend this to my tech friends because if I’m confused they will be more so.

Most users don’t care, as long as they’re getting free stuff

Sad, but very true in my experience. I find even my friends who work in software engineering and have exposure to the bad sides of what technology can do, just don’t take any efforts to change. They addicted to Instagram, to Amazon, and everything else.

YT ads can be relevant to you based on data collected about you

They certainly can be but if there are 2 advertisers and one is the most relevant and the other pays them more money, which one do you think Google is going to show you?

The one that pays more because it’s an auction, but an advertiser that pays more for a less relevant ad to a user won’t be making as much money so there is an incentive to be more relevant.

bash doesn’t have a main function either and no one is fucking complaining.

I don’t complain about Bash’s lack of features because I choose not to write Bash scripts and instead use saner languages.

First thing you should do is read the bylaws. There should be some that define how the HOA should operate when it was incorporated. You don’t want to break any bylaws. For two units I doubt it’s that big of a document. You also should also get organized about all docs and record keeping especially if you have any sort of finances.

My understanding thus far is that we should build up our funds and then put some of that money in CDs and brokerage accounts, eventually

I don’t know how much big of a budget you’re going to have, but with larger HOAs like mine, we have operating costs and reserve expenses both with their own accounts. Reserve is for long term expenses like you need a new roof. Operating for paying things like shared landscaping. Reserve studies can help you identify how much time until you need to replace the roof or the siding or whatever other things are common with your building.

Don’t invest in the stock market, but at a certain account size CDs for long term investments are a good idea. We use that to help offset dues increases.

It doesn’t have to be complicated but you are technically running a business.