I tried. I didn't feel like spending days learning their custom config language just to install a program I want to use. Ease of use is not a label I would apply to NixOS.

Try NixOS with the new redesigned command line. It's much simpler. No idea why this is not getting advertised more widely, as it's been worked on for a few years already: https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/779

For example, opening a temporary shell with, say, GIMP, is as simple as: nix run nixpkgs.gimp

If you want to check what packages are available for GIMP, because you are not sure what to run: nix search gimp

I tend to forget very convoluted commands, and I find the new nix much simpler than pacman or apt.

Documentation has also matured a lot, see: https://nixos.wiki/wiki/Resources

Where are the docs for the nix command?

thanks!