"`sudo apt-get install nginx` just works. Perhaps they're doing it 'wrong', but there are thousands of people who are making sure it just works."
True, but that is only half of the problem. Once you have nginx installed you have to configure it, which requires another layer of automation. Package installation is the trivial part of the stuff done by Ansible, Puppet, etc.
You could package up pre-configured .deb's, but you lose the "thousands of people" aspect and are back to "compile it from scratch". It's significantly less entertaining, particularly if you're trying to do it repeatably.
I think the real point of Nix is that you use the same mechanisms for both package management and local configuration.
True, but that is only half of the problem. Once you have nginx installed you have to configure it, which requires another layer of automation. Package installation is the trivial part of the stuff done by Ansible, Puppet, etc.
You could package up pre-configured .deb's, but you lose the "thousands of people" aspect and are back to "compile it from scratch". It's significantly less entertaining, particularly if you're trying to do it repeatably.
I think the real point of Nix is that you use the same mechanisms for both package management and local configuration.