Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

nix-bundle VS NixOS

Compare nix-bundle VS NixOS and see what are their differences

nix-bundle logo nix-bundle

Build portable binaries using the nix package manager that can run anywhere (even when nix is not installed) .

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.
  • nix-bundle Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-24
  • NixOS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12

nix-bundle features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

NixOS features and specs

  • Reproducibility
    NixOS ensures that the system configuration is entirely reproducible. Every package, configuration file, and system setting is defined in a single, declarative configuration file, enabling easy recreation of the environment on different machines or after clean installs.
  • Atomic Upgrades & Rollbacks
    Upgrades in NixOS are atomic, meaning they either complete successfully or not at all. Additionally, it is easy to rollback to previous configurations if something goes wrong, which adds a significant safety net during system updates.
  • Isolated Environments
    NixOS supports creating isolated development environments, preventing dependency conflicts and allowing developers to work with different versions of packages comfortably.
  • Package Management
    Nix, the package manager of NixOS, allows for the installation of multiple versions of the same software simultaneously without conflicts, facilitating experimentation and development.
  • Declarative Configuration
    All aspects of the NixOS system are configurable using a declarative language, making it easier to understand, share, and reproduce configurations compared to imperative setups.

Possible disadvantages of NixOS

  • Learning Curve
    NixOS and its package manager Nix have a steep learning curve, especially for users who are new to its declarative approach. Mastery requires a willingness to adopt a new mindset and learn new concepts.
  • Smaller Community
    Compared to more mainstream Linux distributions, NixOS has a smaller user and developer community, which can lead to fewer resources, tutorials, and community support options available for problem-solving.
  • Package Availability
    While Nixpkgs is extensive, there are occasions where certain packages may not be available or may not have the latest versions, requiring users to create their own packages or wait for updates.
  • Performance Overheads
    The guarantee of reproducibility and isolation can introduce performance overheads in some scenarios, particularly when dealing with build processes that have not been specifically optimized for Nix.
  • System Configuration Complexity
    The ability to configure everything declaratively can lead to complex and lengthy configuration files, which can be daunting and hard to manage as the complexity of the environment increases.

nix-bundle videos

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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 nix-bundle and NixOS)
Front End Package Manager
Software Marketplace
100 100%
0% 0
Package Manager
0 0%
100% 100
Cloud Computing
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 nix-bundle and NixOS

nix-bundle 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 seems to be a lot more popular than nix-bundle. While we know about 268 links to NixOS, we've tracked only 7 mentions of nix-bundle. 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.

nix-bundle mentions (7)

  • Our Fastest, Most Beautiful Release Ever: Thunderbird 115 “Supernova” Is Here
    I admit that there is an element of, "but I chose an obscure and challenging linux variant, waaah why isn't it supported" here, but (a) there's currently no flatpak and (b) when, for goodness sakes, will major linux projects begin packaging for Nix/NixOS as a matter of course? It's not hard, and the benefits go far outside merely supporting Nix, as e.g. a flake.nix file would allow this project to generate docker... - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Pushing/marketing the nix package manager as a Flatpak/Snap competitor?
    Another way to approach this would be to advocate Nix as the build system for Flatpak or AppImage. Don't know what the status is of nix-bundle, but if it is possible to turn a Nix package into an AppImage with little extra work that would be ideal. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Pushing/marketing the nix package manager as a Flatpak/Snap competitor?
    Somewhat related, I wanted to mention nix-bundler it allows to wrap an application with nix into a single file. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Flaptak (and Snap) is not the future
    Nix itself is more focused on "distribute from this host with nix, to this other host with nix". Though, here is e.g. https://github.com/matthewbauer/nix-bundle, which is supported as an experimental command in nix 2.4. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
  • Does Nix or NixOS address the problem raised by Linus Torvalds on package management?
    I believe this tool does: https://github.com/matthewbauer/nix-bundle. Source: over 3 years ago
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NixOS mentions (268)

  • Why and How to Patch a Python Package in Nix
    I bumped into an annoying issue today while upgrading my Python dependencies in a codebase. And I thought it would be a good idea to share the solution with you. Thanks to Nix for making this kind of fix so straightforward. - Source: dev.to / 1 day ago
  • Nix Flake Templates
    I am actively using Nix from my workstation setup to development environments, from Docker image builds to CI/CD pipelines, and even on production servers. One of the themes that comes up often is provisioning a codebase, a development environment and packaging configuration for a new project. - Source: dev.to / 3 days ago
  • Show HN: Node.js video tutorials where you can edit and run the code
    I'd love to create some Nix (https://nixos.org/) content. - Source: Hacker News / 16 days ago
  • 20 years of Git. Still weird, still wonderful
    NixOS may end up being "the last OS I ever use" (especially now that gaming is viable on it): https://nixos.org/ Check it out. The whitepaper's a fairly digestible read, too, and may get you excited about the whole concept (which is VERY different from how things are normally done, but ends up giving you guarantees). - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago
  • Overengineer your CV
    For implementing the themes I have decided to use nix flakes since they allow each theme to specify their own dependencies and which command to run with the resulting JSON from the previous step as input. Another alternative could have been to use docker, but I wanted to learn more about nix. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing nix-bundle and NixOS, you can also consider the following products

Flatpak - Flatpak is the new framework for desktop applications on Linux

GNU Guix - Like Nix but GNU.

Zero Install - Zero Install is a decentralised cross-distribution software installation system.

Homebrew - The missing package manager for macOS

Snapcraft - Snaps are software packages that are simple to create and install.

asdf-vm - An extendable version manager