NixOS VS Kelp

Compare NixOS VS Kelp and see what are their differences

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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.

Kelp

A simple replacement for homebrew for installing binary packages on macOS written in Go.

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2023-09-12

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NixOS

Website: nixos.org
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Kelp

Website: github.com
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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.

Kelp features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

Analysis of NixOS

Overall verdict

NixOS is a powerful and innovative Linux distribution that is particularly well-suited for users who value reproducibility, consistency, and advanced package management capabilities. However, its steep learning curve and unique approach might not make it the ideal choice for everyone, especially those new to Linux.

Why this product is good

NixOS is considered good by many due to its unique package management system and declarative configuration model. The entire system configuration can be described in a single file, making it easy to reproduce environments, roll back changes, or share setups. This is particularly appealing for developers and system administrators who require reliable, consistent, and reproducible environments. Additionally, NixOS's package manager, Nix, allows for handling multiple software versions without conflicts, providing a flexible and modular system.

Recommended for

Developers who need consistent and reproducible setups across different machines or environments
System administrators looking for advanced features in package management and system configuration
Users who are willing to invest time into learning NixOS's unique aspects and benefits
People interested in DevOps and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines

NixOS videos

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First Impression of the NixOS Installation Procedure

Kelp videos

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Kelp Review - Two Player Asymmetric Nom Nom Noms

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to NixOS and Kelp)

Kelp

Front End Package Manager

95 95%

Front End Package Manager

5% 5

Windows Tools

74 74%

Windows Tools

26% 26

Package Manager

90 90%

Package Manager

10% 10

Developer Tools

100 100%

Developer Tools

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 NixOS and Kelp

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”.

Source: www.fosslinux.com

Kelp Reviews

We have no reviews of Kelp yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, NixOS seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 273 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.

NixOS mentions (273)

Frontend Mentor's Contact form challenge built with Elm
I packaged my deployment script with Nix and Nix flakes then added it as a dependency in my devbox.json. When you enter the developer environment you have access to the deploy Bash script which I then wrapped up into app deploy. Previously, I would copy and paste all the Bash scripts I needed from past projects into my current project but this approach was much nicer. - Source: dev.to / 5 days ago
Hacking Haskell with Nix: Two Tricks
If you are using Nix, you may have heard of Nix-Shell Shebang:. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
Hacking with mdBook
MdBook is a Rust-based tool to create Web-based books from vanilla Markdown files. Although it is quite minimalistic, you will bump into it quite often in the wild. Most notably, the Rust Book uses it. I see it quite often in the Nix ecosystem, too. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
Haskell Project Template with Nix Flakes
Haskell has been my go-to language for over 7 years. First, I started with Stack, then switched to plain Cabal and finally settled on Nix to provision a development environment for Haskell projects. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
SDK-Driven Development: A Litmus Test for Good Software Design
Also for systems administration and DevOps, I first used Ansible to streamline the management of our servers. Writing playbooks is OK, but going beyond that to convert them to roles is a good practice from collaboration perspective. This SDK approach worked quite well for me and my team. Now, I am developing NixOS modules for various services we deploy. In both cases, the goal is to compose well-defined and... - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago