Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Hammerspoon VS pkgsrc

Compare Hammerspoon VS pkgsrc and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Hammerspoon logo Hammerspoon

This is a tool for powerful automation of OS X.

pkgsrc logo pkgsrc

pkgsrc is a framework for building over 17,000 open source software packages.
  • Hammerspoon Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-25
  • pkgsrc Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-30

Hammerspoon features and specs

  • Highly Customizable
    Hammerspoon allows users to write Lua scripts to automate virtually any task on macOS, providing a high degree of customization to meet individual needs.
  • Extensive API
    With a rich set of APIs, Hammerspoon supports interaction with numerous macOS features and third-party applications, increasing its versatility.
  • Lightweight
    Hammerspoon is relatively lightweight compared to other automation tools, minimizing the impact on system resources.
  • Active Community
    The Hammerspoon community is active and provides a wealth of shared scripts and modules, as well as support for new users.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, Hammerspoon allows users to inspect, modify, and contribute to its codebase, fostering a collaborative development environment.

Possible disadvantages of Hammerspoon

  • Steep Learning Curve
    The necessity to write Lua scripts can be a barrier for users who are not familiar with programming, making the tool less accessible to non-developers.
  • Limited Documentation
    While there is documentation available, some users find it insufficient for more complex tasks, which may require additional research and experimentation.
  • Minimal Graphical Interface
    Hammerspoon lacks a user-friendly graphical interface, which can make setup and configuration less intuitive for some users.
  • Potential Stability Issues
    Depending on the complexity and efficiency of the user-created scripts, Hammerspoon could potentially cause system instability or performance issues.
  • MacOS Only
    Hammerspoon is exclusive to macOS, which limits its usability to users within the Apple ecosystem.

pkgsrc features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Support
    pkgsrc is designed to be a portable package management system and can be used on a variety of Unix-like operating systems, including NetBSD, Solaris, Linux, and macOS. This cross-platform capability makes it a versatile tool for developers working in diverse environments.
  • Consistency Across Systems
    Using pkgsrc allows for a consistent package management experience regardless of the underlying operating system, reducing the learning curve and maintenance overhead for administrators managing multiple systems.
  • Comprehensive Package Collection
    pkgsrc offers a wide range of software packages, providing a robust collection that can meet diverse user needs from scientific libraries to web applications.
  • Quarterly Releases
    With quarterly releases, pkgsrc provides a balanced approach between stability and keeping software up to date, offering users new features regularly while maintaining reliability.
  • Flexible Build Options
    pkgsrc supports a flexible build system, allowing users to customize package builds with specific options or dependencies, tailored to their specific needs or system requirements.

Possible disadvantages of pkgsrc

  • Smaller Community
    Compared to other popular package management systems like apt (Debian/Ubuntu) or yum (RedHat/CentOS), pkgsrc has a relatively smaller community, which might affect the availability of support and community-driven improvements.
  • Potentially Older Software
    While pkgsrc maintains stable quarterly releases, it may occasionally lag behind other systems in terms of offering the very latest versions of certain software, which might not be ideal for users needing the newest features.
  • Manual Configuration
    Setting up pkgsrc might require manual interventions and configurations, which could pose a hurdle for users unfamiliar with its setup process or those who prefer more automated solutions.
  • Dependency Management
    Although pkgsrc is quite capable in dependency handling, some users may find its dependency resolution to be less automatic or seamless compared to other systems which offer more integrated solutions.
  • Performance Overhead
    Because it is designed to be cross-platform, there can be some performance overhead associated with using pkgsrc compared to native package managers that are optimized for specific operating systems.

Analysis of Hammerspoon

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Hammerspoon is considered a good tool for those who are comfortable with scripting and want to leverage its capabilities for custom automation on macOS. It is well-regarded within the community for its robust features and active development.

Why this product is good

  • Hammerspoon is a powerful automation tool for macOS that allows users to script and control their environment with a combination of Lua scripting and Objective-C APIs. Its flexibility and extensibility make it a desirable option for power users who want to automate repetitive tasks, customize their workflow, or create complex scripts to enhance productivity. Users appreciate its ability to integrate with macOS and utilize system events, window management, and hardware control, which provides a high degree of customizability that is not easily achievable through other tools.

Recommended for

    Hammerspoon is recommended for tech-savvy users, developers, and anyone who is familiar with scripting and is looking to automate their macOS environment. It is particularly useful for individuals who enjoy tinkering with their setup and want to have fine-grained control over their system's behavior.

Hammerspoon videos

HammerSpoon Worflow Automation

pkgsrc videos

pkgsrc on ChromeOS

More videos:

  • Review - Using pkgsrc for multi-platform deployments in heterogeneous environments, G Clifford Williams

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Hammerspoon and pkgsrc)
Automation
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Tool
100 100%
0% 0
Package Manager
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Hammerspoon and pkgsrc. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, pkgsrc should be more popular than Hammerspoon. It has been mentiond 11 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.

Hammerspoon mentions (4)

  • i3 Linux -> macOS
    Then, I can only suggest http://hammerspoon.org/ and then you can start implementing window movement using it https://www.hammerspoon.org/go/#winmoveintro. Source: about 3 years ago
  • 49 inch Ultra Wide Monitor going from PC to Mac mini
    MacOS doesn't do this natively, but you have options: - If you just want to move windows around with some degree of keyboard customization, go for Rectangle. - If you want more control, such as sizing a bunch of windows at the same time, use Slate. - If you can code and want really high degrees of customization, you won't go wrong with Hammerspoon. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Handy utility applications for macOS
    Both of those can be replaced by the open-source Hammerspoon (actually a significant number of the things in this thread can, including BTT). Source: over 4 years ago
  • Keyboard Maestro alternatives?
    Depending on what you want from KM, Hammerspoon may be a good alternative. You can also look up on AlternativeTo for other options. Source: over 4 years ago

pkgsrc mentions (11)

  • Debian isn't waiting for 2038 to blow up, switches to 64-bit time for everything
    > Most open source software packages are also compiled for BSD variants, they switched to 64 bit time_t a long time ago and reported back upstream any problems. * NetBSD in 2012: https://www.netbsd.org/releases/formal-6/NetBSD-6.0.html * OpenBSD in 2014: http://www.openbsd.org/55.html For packaging, NetBSD uses their (multi-platform) Pkgsrc, which has 29,000 packages, which probably covers a large swath of... - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • Our Audit of Homebrew
    > https://pkgsrc.smartos.org/install-on-macos/ Note that Pkgsrc is a NetBSD-derived project. * https://pkgsrc.org The Joyent folks leveraged it to allow their customers, who were perhaps not as familiar with Solaris/SmartOS, a larger pool of packages. Pkgsrc was running on Solaris before Joyent, Joyent built on top of it. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Show HN: Brioche โ€“ A new Nix-like package manager
    Https://pkgsrc.org/ from netbsd runs on many systems. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Installing packages without an internet connection?
    It seems according to pkgsrc.org that pkgin might follow the PKG_PATH environment variable. You're supposed to set PKG_PATH="http://cdn.NetBSD.org/pub/pkgsrc/packages/NetBSD/$(uname -p)/$(uname -r|cut -f '1 2' -d.)/All/", and according to uname(1), -p gives the processor architecture and -r gives the operating system [kernel] release. Source: over 3 years ago
  • pkgsrc.se is no more :(
    It seems like pkgsrc.org hasnโ€™t got the news yet. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Hammerspoon and pkgsrc, you can also consider the following products

Puloverโ€™s Macro Creator - Puloverโ€™s Macro Creator is a Free Automation Tool and Script Generator.

Conda - Binary package manager with support for environments.

AutoKey - A Python 3 port of AutoKey, the desktop automation utility for Linux and X11.

Homebrew - The missing package manager for macOS

AutoHotkey - The ultimate automation scripting language for Windows.

Yay - Yay is an AUR helper written in go, based on the design of yaourt, apacman and pacaur.