Software Alternatives & Reviews

GNU Guix VS NixOS

Compare GNU Guix VS NixOS and see what are their differences

GNU Guix logo GNU Guix

Like Nix but GNU.

NixOS logo NixOS

25 Jun 2014 . All software components in NixOS are installed using the Nix package manager. Packages in Nix are defined using the nix language to create nix expressions.
  • GNU Guix Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-26
  • NixOS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12

GNU Guix videos

My crush on GNU Guix

More videos:

  • Review - Building a whole distro on top of a minimalistic language The story of GNU Guix
  • Tutorial - How to Install GNU Guix System 1.1.0 + Review

NixOS videos

First Impression of the NixOS Installation Procedure

More videos:

  • Review - Introduction to NixOS - Brownbag by Geoffrey Huntley
  • Review - NixOS 18.03 - A Configuration-focused GNU+Linux Distro

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GNU Guix and NixOS)
Developer Tools
52 52%
48% 48
Front End Package Manager
Package Manager
33 33%
67% 67
Linux
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare GNU Guix and NixOS

GNU Guix Reviews

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NixOS Reviews

The 10 Best Immutable Linux Distributions in 2024
Why it’s on the list: NixOS uses the Nix package manager, which treats packages as isolated from each other. This unique approach to package management virtually eliminates “dependency hell”.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, NixOS should be more popular than GNU Guix. It has been mentiond 246 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

GNU Guix mentions (90)

  • Pkl, a Programming Language for Configuration
    > So what we are missing now is a 500GB framework that can write the config file for the programming language that is writing a config file for the actual program I wish to use. That exists since 1960. It's called LISP. The e.g. https://guix.gnu.org/ uses with great success, the Guile Scheme dialect of LISP, to be precise. And FYI the "framework" is:
      $ ls --human-readable --size $(readlink $(which...
    - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • NixOS: Declarative Builds and Deployments
    > inventing a brand new purely functional language programming language. ISTM that if you dislike that, then there's GUIX. https://guix.gnu.org/ Very briefly, AFAICT, it's "Nix but using Scheme". - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Linux saved my life
    And just wait till you discover Arch Linux, Gentoo, Guix, or NixOS. Source: 10 months ago
  • The nicest web browser of 2023 uses Lisp.
    Https://guix.gnu.org for example. It did load before an update but it doesn't anymore. Source: 10 months ago
  • Java community welcomes kotlin, c/c++ community welcome rust and go and Javascript community welcomes typscript except emacs community who still refuse to welcome gnu guile.
    Is it? Seems to me it's used for some pretty cool stuff, heard of Guix? Source: 10 months ago
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NixOS mentions (246)

  • I use NixOS for my home-server, and you should too!
    As we covered in my last post, NixOS is a amazing Linux distribution for creating stable and declared environments. Now while this is amazing for a desktop setup, it is also perfect for a home-server or home-lab. - Source: dev.to / 1 day ago
  • Colima k8s nix setup
    Nix is a cross-platform package manager. It uses the nix programming language. Nix and NixOs are often used in the same context, but while the first is a package manager, the latter is a linux distribution based on nix. - Source: dev.to / 7 days ago
  • NixOs - Your portable dev enviroment
    Today I want to talk to you about Nixos. What is it? Nixos is a declarative and reproducible OS, partly taking the words used on their own page. What does that mean? - Source: dev.to / 16 days ago
  • Nix – A One Pager
    Software developers often want to customize: 1. Their home environments: for packages (some reach for brew on MacOS) and configurations (dotfiles, and some reach for stow). 2. Their development shells: for build dependencies (compilers, SDKs, libraries), tools (LSP, linters, formatters, debuggers), and services (runtime, database). Some reach for devcontainers here. 3. Or even their operating systems: for... - Source: Hacker News / 17 days ago
  • Tools for Linux Distro Hoppers
    Hopping from one distro to another with a different package manager might require some time to adapt. Using a package manager that can be installed on most distro is one way to help you get to work faster. Flatpak is one of them; other alternative are Snap, Nix or Homebrew. Flatpak is a good starter, and if you have a bunch of free time, I suggest trying Nix. - Source: dev.to / 27 days ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing GNU Guix and NixOS, you can also consider the following products

Conda - Binary package manager with support for environments.

Homebrew - The missing package manager for macOS

Portage - Portage is source-based package manager used by Gentoo and its descendants. It controls all process from fetching source through building it, installing into clean environment to "merging" with already installed software.

Chocolatey - The sane way to manage software on Windows.

pkgsrc - pkgsrc is a framework for building over 17,000 open source software packages.

asdf-vm - An extendable version manager