Document flake dev setup

website/site/content/docs/install/nix.md

@@ -5,6 +5,34 @@ weight = 24
 
 # Nix
 
+Docspell is a flake, you need to enable flakes in order to make use of
+it. You can also use the provided expressions without Flakes, which is
+described below.
+
+## Try it out {try-it-out}
+
+You can try out the server and joex packages by running the following:
+
+```
+nix run github:eikek/docspell#docspell-server
+nix run github:eikek/docspell#docspell-joex
+```
+
+While this works, it will be only a very basic setup. The database
+defaults to a directory in `/tmp` and no fulltext search enabled. Then
+for processing documents, some external tools are required which would
+need to be present on yout system to make it work.
+
+A more elaborate setup with PostgreSQL and SOLR can be started using
+the `test-vm`:
+
+```
+nix run github:eikek/docspell#nixosConfigurations.test-vm.config.system.build.vm
+```
+
+The vm contains all the required tools. After starting up, you can
+find docspell at `http://localhost:7881`.
+
 ## Install via Nix
 
 Docspell can be installed via the [nix](https://nixos.org/nix) package
@@ -12,6 +40,16 @@ manager. Docspell is currently not part of the [nixpkgs
 collection](https://nixos.org/nixpkgs/), but you can use the flake
 from this repository.
 
+You could install the server and joex by running the following:
+```
+nix profile install github:eikek/docspell#docspell-server
+nix profile install github:eikek/docspell#docspell-joex
+```
+
+This would install the packages on your system. If you use NixOS you
+probably want to use the provided [NixOS modules](#nixos) instead.
+
+
 ## Upgrading
 
 Since [downgrading](@/docs/install/downgrading.md) is not supported,
@@ -164,3 +202,7 @@ in
 
 The same way import NixOS modules from
 `nix/modules/{joex|server}.nix`.
+
+An alternative can be to use `builtins.getFlake` to fetch the flake
+and get access to its output. But this requires to use a flake enabled
+nix, which then defeats the idea of "not using flakes".

website/site/content/docs/install/quickstart.md

@@ -20,10 +20,10 @@ To get started, here are some quick links:
   applies to the `zip` and `deb` files. The files can be downloaded
   from the [release
   page](https://github.com/eikek/docspell/releases/latest).
-- via the [nix package manager](@/docs/install/nix.md) and/or as a
-  [NixOS module](@/docs/install/nix.md#nixos) through a flake.
-  If you use nix/nixos, you know what to do. The linked page contains
-  some examples.
+- via the [nix package manager](@/docs/install/nix.md#try-it-out)
+  and/or as a [NixOS module](@/docs/install/nix.md#nixos) through a
+  flake. If you use nix/nixos, you know what to do. The linked page
+  contains some examples.
 - [Unraid](https://www.unraid.net/): There are user provided [notes
   and unraid
   templates](https://github.com/vakilando/unraid-docker-templates)