Just tried it, it does work. Not in the `--help` though.

This subthread is exactly why NixOS is getting much traction outside of enthusiasts and people with a lot of patience.

Missing a 'not', I think?

I think the idea that Nix is difficult to get started with, and undocumented, isn't a surprise to the community. -- These were some of the most repeated points in the community survey. And the topic of the submitted post.

That said, I do think Nix has seen a lot of growth over the last year, and I see fewer "nix is so easy" comments.

I've been on the sidelines for a while, as I keep hearing that NixOS devs are focusing on the documentation for years now... but to be honest I'm not seeing it yet. Documentation was the thing that turned me off it 4 years ago, and I'm a bit sad to see it's still a big problem even if I keep hearing it's being actively worked on.

I misread that as `nix-build --dry-run`, sorry!

You can use nix-build on a shell.nix though i'm pretty sure.