FYI: The Pantheon Desktop is packaged for NixOS for some time now. It is included in 19.03 stable channel!
I use it for some months on personal and work computers. Only one critical problem exists with multi-monitor setups: Pantheon session crash after lock or suspend with multi-monitors · Issue #60082 · NixOS/nixpkgs · GitHub. See general progress here: Pantheon · GitHub
Darling is also packaged. Well, kind of. But it seems far from usable. But indeed an interesting effort.
https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/38628
I’m not sure if we should use the new elementary Installer and create a elementary ISO. I like it because it has state of the art design, but it is quiet new. A more general solution would be better for the success of NixOS.
But first we need Design and UX for an Installer that fits NixOS and teaches the user the basics without overwhelming them! Elementary is doing a fantastic job in that space: Get Settled into elementary OS with Onboarding | by Cassidy James Blaede | elementary | Medium
Without Design that has the user experience in mind, it is just a tech demo that experts can use. I wish NixOS becomes more user friendly and make it’s advantages available to more people. For that, we must hide most of the magic happening on the technical level. Users just want to install the system, configure it, install software and be productive. elementary OS delivers that.
I think right now only technical people are involved in NixOS. We need designers, UX experts and technical writers to make it accessible to more people.