For programs that have a lot of (Nix-representable) configuration options,
a simple way to represent this in a NixOS module is to declare an
option of a type like `attrsOf str`, representing a key-value mapping
which then gets generated into a config file. However with such a type,
there's no way to add type checking for only some key values.
On the other end of the spectrum, one can declare a single separate
option for every key value that the program supports, ending up with a module
with potentially 100s of options. This has the benefit that every value
gets type checked, catching mistakes at evaluation time already. However
the disadvantage is that the module becomes big, becomes coupled to the
program version and takes a lot of effort to write and maintain.
Previously there was a middle ground between these two
extremes: Declare an option of a type like `attrsOf str`, but declare
additional separate options for the values you wish to have type
checked, and assign their values to the `attrsOf str` option. While this
works decently, it has the problem of duplicated options, since now both
the additional options and the `attrsOf str` option can be used to set a
key value. This leads to confusion about what should happen if both are
set, which defaults should apply, and more.
Now with this change, a middle ground becomes available that solves above
problems: The module system now supports setting a freeform type, which
gets used for all definitions that don't have an associated option. This
means that you can now declare all options you wish to have type
checked, while for the rest a freeform type like `attrsOf str` can be
used.
65e25deb06