configuration.nix file for NixOS on my macbook pro

configuration.nix

{ config, pkgs, ... }:

let
  hostname = "luz3";
in {
  imports =
    [ # Include the results of the hardware scan.
      ./hardware-configuration.nix

      # I use VirtualBox to connect to Windows and Linux guests
      <nixos/modules/programs/virtualbox.nix>
    ];

    
  boot = {
    cleanTmpDir = true;
    loader = {
      # I'm on an EFI-only system (mac book pro 9.2)
      gummiboot.enable = true;
      gummiboot.timeout = 4;
      efi.canTouchEfiVariables = true;
      grub.device = "/dev/sda";
    };
  };

  fileSystems."/home" =
    { device = "/dev/disk/by-label/HOME";
      fsType = "ext4";
    };

  fileSystems."/media/cassou/BACKUP" =
    { device = "/dev/disk/by-label/BACKUP";
      fsType = "ext4";
    };

  fileSystems."/media/cassou/MACOS" =
    { device = "/dev/disk/by-label/MACOS";
      fsType = "hfsplus";
      options = "uid=1000";
    };

  networking.hostName = hostname;

  # I use a desktop manager with NetworkManager
  networking.networkmanager.enable = true;

  i18n = {
     consoleKeyMap = "us-acentos";
     defaultLocale = "en_US.UTF-8";
  };

  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
     ack
     ant
     aspell
     aspellDicts.fr
     aspellDicts.en
     backintime-common
     backintime
     bashCompletion
     bindfs
     boinc
     chromium
     coreutils
     cryptsetup
     gnome3.dconf
     docker
     dropbox
     eclipses.eclipse_sdk_44
     elfutils
     emacs # see below for my own definition of Emacs
     empathy
     ffmpeg
     file
     filezilla
     firefoxWrapper
     ghostscript # to manipulate pdf files
     gimp
     gitAndTools.gitFull
     glib # for gsettings
     gmpc # MPD client
     gnome3_12.pomodoro
     gnumake
     gnupg
     gparted
     haskellPackages.pandoc
     haskellPackages.ShellCheck
     htop
     inetutils
     inkscape
     keymon
     libreoffice
     oraclejdk
     oraclejdk7
     maven
     networkmanager_openvpn
     offlineimap
     openvpn
     pdftk # to manipulate pdf files
     (pidginWrapper.override { plugins = [ pidginotr ]; }) # pidgin + pidgin-otr
     plantuml
     pharo-launcher
     pharo-vm
     python # for Cask
     pythonPackages.screenkey # to screencast my keys
     pythonPackages.weboob
     skype
     telepathy_haze # jabber
     texLiveFull
     unetbootin
     unison
     unrar
     utillinux # for dmesg, kill,...
     vlc
     subversion
     wget
     which
     xlibs.xev
     xorg.xkill
     xvidcore
     xpdf # for pdfinfo
     yafc
     zip
   ];

  services = {
    openssh.enable = true;
    
    # Locate will update its database everyday at lunch time
    locate.enable = true;
    locate.period = "00 12 * * *";

    # Music player daemon
    mpd = {
      enable = true;
      musicDirectory = "/home/cassou/Musique/son/";
    };

    # Cups
    printing = {
      enable = true;
      cupsdConf = ''
        BrowsePoll cups.lille.inria.fr:631
        BrowsePoll prserv.lifl.rf
      '';
    };

    gnome3 = {
      tracker.enable = false; # I don't use tracker
      gnome-keyring.enable = true;
    };

    xserver = {
      enable = true;

      # Gnome 3 works better with GDM
      displayManager.gdm.enable = true;

      # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/4416
      displayManager.desktopManagerHandlesLidAndPower = false;

      # I want Gnome 3
      desktopManager.gnome3.enable = true;

      # This is the way to activate some Gnome 3 modules
      desktopManager.gnome3.sessionPath = with pkgs.gnome3_12; [ gpaste pomodoro ];
      xkbOptions = "ctrl:nocaps"; # overriden by gnome (must be set using gnome tweak tool)

      # Configure the macbook's touchpad
      synaptics = {
        enable = true;

        # http://who-t.blogspot.fr/2010/11/how-to-ignore-configuration-errors.html
        dev = "/dev/input/event*";
        twoFingerScroll = true;
        accelFactor = "0.001";
        buttonsMap = [ 1 3 2 ];
      };

      config =
        ''
          # Configure the Kensington trackball
          # http://yjpark.blogspot.fr/2010/04/using-trackball-on-linux.html
          Section "InputClass"
            Identifier "Trackball Wheel Emulation"
            MatchProduct "Kensington Kensington Slimblade Trackball"
            MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
            # Enable the mouse wheel emulation (similar to the navigation mode)
            Option "EmulateWheel" "true"
            # Upper-right button to trigger the navigation mode
            Option "EmulateWheelButton" "8"
            # Make it work for both vertical and horizontal scroll
            Option "XAxisMapping" "6 7"
            Option "YAxisMapping" "4 5"
            # Remap the buttons a little bit, since firefox will use
            # button 8 as back button and that's not what I want
            Option "ButtonMapping" "1 8 3 4 5 6 7 10 9 2 11 12"
          EndSection
        '';
    };

    openvpn.enable = true;

    # Launch backintime regularly
    cron.systemCronJobs = [
      "*/15 * * * * cassou ${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/nice -n 19 ${pkgs.utillinux}/bin/ionice -c2 -n7 ${pkgs.backintime-common}/bin/backintime --profile-id 2 --backup-job"
      "0 * * * *    cassou ${pkgs.coreutils}/bin/nice -n 19 ${pkgs.utillinux}/bin/ionice -c2 -n7 ${pkgs.backintime-common}/bin/backintime --backup-job"
 ];

  };

  # Use Gnome 3.12
  environment.gnome3.packageSet = pkgs.gnome3_12;

  nixpkgs.config = {
    allowUnfree = true;
    firefox = {
      enableGoogleTalkPlugin = true;
      enableAdobeFlash = true;
    };

    pidgin = {
      openssl = true;
      gnutls = true;
    };

    # Enable USB in guest OS
    virtualbox.enableExtensionPack = true;

    packageOverrides = pkgs: {
        # Define my own Emacs
        emacs = pkgs.lib.overrideDerivation (pkgs.emacs.override {
            # Use gtk3 instead of the default gtk2
            gtk = pkgs.gtk3;
            # Make sure imagemgick is a dependency because I regularly
            # look at pictures from Emasc
            imagemagick = pkgs.imagemagickBig;
          }) (attrs: {
            # I don't want emacs.desktop file because I only use
            # emacsclient.
            postInstall = attrs.postInstall + ''
              rm $out/share/applications/emacs.desktop
            '';
        });

    };

  };

  # The wifi broadcom driver 
  networking.enableB43Firmware = true;

  # Make sure the only way to add users/groups is to change this file
  users.mutableUsers = false;

  # Add myself as a super user
  users.extraUsers.cassou = {
    createHome = true;
    home = "/home/cassou";
    description = "Damien Cassou";
    extraGroups = [ "wheel" "networkmanager" "vboxusers" "docker" ];
    useDefaultShell = true;
    uid = 1000;
    hashedPassword = "<not shown in this gist>";
  };

  # Add fonts
  fonts = {
    enableFontDir = true;
    enableGhostscriptFonts = true;
    fonts = with pkgs; [
      corefonts # Microsoft free fonts
      inconsolata # monospaced
      ubuntu_font_family
      dejavu_fonts
    ];
  };


  # Fix problem with Emacs tramp (https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/3368)
  programs.bash = {
    promptInit = "PS1=\"# \"";
    enableCompletion = true;
  };

  # Make sure I can use "openvpn" without entering my password
  security.sudo.configFile =
  ''
    cassou ${hostname} = (root) NOPASSWD: /run/current-system/sw/sbin/openvpn
  '';

  # Not sure what this is about anymore (nor if it's useful)
  environment.variables.GIO_EXTRA_MODULES = [ "${pkgs.gnome3.dconf}/lib/gio/modules" ];

  # Create a systemd user service for emacs daemon. This is useful because
  # systemd will take care of launching emacs in the background and I
  # will just have to connect to it through emacs-client. This is a
  # user service. This means I have to pass the "--user" option to
  # systemd when I want to control the service.
  systemd.user.services.emacs = {
    description                 = "Emacs: the extensible, self-documenting text editor";


    serviceConfig               = {
      Type      = "forking";
      ExecStart = "${pkgs.emacs}/bin/emacs --daemon";
      ExecStop  = "${pkgs.emacs}/bin/emacsclient --eval (kill-emacs)";
      Restart   = "always";
    };

    # I want the emacs service to be started with the rest of the user services
    wantedBy = [ "default.target" ];

    # Annoyingly, systemd doesn't pass any environment variable to its
    # services. Below, I set some variables that I missed.
    environment = {
      # Give Emacs a chance to use gnome keyring for the ssh-agent
      SSH_AUTH_SOCK   = "%t/keyring/ssh";

      # Some variables for GTK applications I will launch from Emacs
      # (typically evince and the gnome-terminal)
      GTK_DATA_PREFIX = config.system.path;
      GTK_PATH        = "${config.system.path}/lib/gtk-3.0:${config.system.path}/lib/gtk-2.0";

      # Make sure aspell will find its dictionaries
      ASPELL_CONF     = "dict-dir /run/current-system/sw/lib/aspell";

      # Make sure locate will find its database
      LOCATE_PATH     = "/var/cache/locatedb";
    };
  };

}

You'd most likely be better off using the libinput driver instead of synaptics with the Macbook's touchpad