Switch to buildEnv instead of symlinkJoin for better control over the joining process.

nix/configuration/roles/emacs/default.nix

@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@
 }:
 
 let
-  plainmacs = pkgs.writeShellScriptBin "plainmacs" ''
+  plainmacs =
+    emacs_package:
+    pkgs.writeShellScriptBin "plainmacs" ''
       INIT_SCRIPT=$(cat <<EOF
       (progn
         (setq make-backup-files nil auto-save-default nil create-lockfiles nil)
@@ -34,13 +36,12 @@ let
       EOF
       )
 
-    exec ${pkgs.emacs29-pgtk}/bin/emacs -q --eval "$INIT_SCRIPT" "''${@}"
+      exec ${emacs_package}/bin/emacs -q --eval "$INIT_SCRIPT" "''${@}"
     '';
-  e_shorthand = pkgs.writeShellScriptBin "e" ''
+  e_shorthand =
-    exec ${pkgs.emacs_full}/bin/emacs "''${@}"
+    emacs_package:
-  '';
+    pkgs.writeShellScriptBin "e" ''
-  plain_e_shorthand = pkgs.writeShellScriptBin "e" ''
+      exec ${emacs_package}/bin/emacs "''${@}"
-    exec ${pkgs.emacs29-pgtk}/bin/emacs "''${@}"
     '';
 in
 {
@@ -58,21 +59,46 @@ in
     description = "What flavor of emacs to set up.";
   };
 
-  config =
+  config = lib.mkIf (config.me.emacs_flavor != null) (
-    lib.mkIf config.me.emacs_flavor != null (
     lib.mkMerge [
-        (lib.mkIf (config.me.emacs_flavor == "full") {
+      {
         environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
-            plainmacs
+          emacs29-pgtk
-            e_shorthand
+          (plainmacs emacs29-pgtk)
-            emacs_full
+          (e_shorthand emacs29-pgtk)
         ];
 
+        environment.persistence."/state" = lib.mkIf (!config.me.buildingIso) {
+          hideMounts = true;
+          users.talexander = {
+            directories = [
+              ".config/emacs/eln-cache" # Installed packages
+              ".config/emacs/elpa" # Installed packages
+              ".config/emacs/private" # For recentf
+              ".config/emacs/tree-sitter" # Compiled tree-sitter grammars
+            ];
+            files = [
+              ".config/emacs/history" # For savehist
+              ".config/emacs/.last-package-update-day" # For use-package
+            ];
+          };
+        };
+
+        environment.variables.EDITOR = "${pkgs.emacs29-pgtk}/bin/plainmacs";
+      }
+      (lib.mkIf (config.me.emacs_flavor == "full") {
         nixpkgs.overlays = [
           (final: prev: {
-              emacs_full = pkgs.symlinkJoin {
+            emacs29-pgtk = pkgs.buildEnv {
-                name = "emacs_full";
+              name = prev.emacs29-pgtk.name;
-                paths = [ pkgs.emacs29-pgtk ];
+              paths = with prev; [
+                emacs29-pgtk
+              ];
+              extraOutputsToInstall = [
+                "man"
+                "doc"
+                "info"
+              ];
               buildInputs = [ pkgs.makeWrapper ];
               postBuild = ''
                 wrapProgram $out/bin/emacs --prefix PATH : ${
@@ -102,49 +128,23 @@ in
               recursive = true;
             };
           };
-
-          environment.persistence."/state" = lib.mkIf (!config.me.buildingIso) {
-            hideMounts = true;
-            users.talexander = {
-              directories = [
-                ".config/emacs/eln-cache" # Installed packages
-                ".config/emacs/elpa" # Installed packages
-                ".config/emacs/private" # For recentf
-                ".config/emacs/tree-sitter" # Compiled tree-sitter grammars
-              ];
-              files = [
-                ".config/emacs/history" # For savehist
-                ".config/emacs/.last-package-update-day" # For use-package
-              ];
-            };
-          };
-
-          environment.variables.EDITOR = "${plainmacs}/bin/plainmacs";
       })
       (lib.mkIf (config.me.emacs_flavor == "plainmacs") {
-          environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
+        nixpkgs.overlays = [
+          (final: prev: {
+            emacs29-pgtk = pkgs.buildEnv {
+              name = prev.emacs29-pgtk.name;
+              paths = with prev; [
                 emacs29-pgtk
-            plainmacs
-            plain_e_shorthand
               ];
-
+              extraOutputsToInstall = [
-          environment.persistence."/state" = lib.mkIf (!config.me.buildingIso) {
+                "man"
-            hideMounts = true;
+                "doc"
-            users.talexander = {
+                "info"
-              directories = [
-                ".config/emacs/eln-cache" # Installed packages
-                ".config/emacs/elpa" # Installed packages
-                ".config/emacs/private" # For recentf
-                ".config/emacs/tree-sitter" # Compiled tree-sitter grammars
-              ];
-              files = [
-                ".config/emacs/history" # For savehist
-                ".config/emacs/.last-package-update-day" # For use-package
               ];
             };
-          };
+          })
-
+        ];
-          environment.variables.EDITOR = "${plainmacs}/bin/plainmacs";
       })
     ]
   );