Software Alternatives & Reviews

Pacman VS NixOS

Compare Pacman VS NixOS and see what are their differences

Pacman logo Pacman

Pacman was developed to be the package manager for Arch Linux, and is also used by KDE-focused Chakra Linux.

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.
  • Pacman Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-24
  • NixOS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12

Pacman 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 Pacman and NixOS)
Developer Tools
35 35%
65% 65
Front End Package Manager
Package Manager
21 21%
79% 79
Games
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 Pacman and NixOS

Pacman 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 Pacman. While we know about 246 links to NixOS, we've tracked only 8 mentions of Pacman. 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.

Pacman mentions (8)

  • How to build Software as a Service (SaaS) Notes application with mySQL/MariaDB and Apache in 300 lines of code
    Install Vely - you can use standard packaging tools such as apt, dnf, pacman or zypper. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Podman 4.3 on Artix Linux: Fix initialization issues
    It is not so difficult to install Podman on Artix Linux, based on Arch Linux and systemd-free. It's because pacman brings core packages: podman and qemu-base of QEMU. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Podman 4.3 on Artix Linux: Install
    Thanks to their package management system, pacman delivers Podman with a simple command line. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Pacman Wrapper for C++/Node
    Pacman is a front-end to libalpm ((library for Arch Linux Package Management) which is written in C, so you should be able to use the library from C++. See https://archlinux.org/pacman/ for information and links to the source code. Source: about 2 years ago
  • (Part 3) I have a base Artix (OpenRC) TTY installed in this VM, whatever you tell me to do, I will gladly accept. As long as it's creative.
    Also, the previous commenter said to do so without the Arch Wiki, they said nothing about man pages, the git documentation, or the Pacman homepage at https://archlinux.org/pacman/. Source: about 2 years 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 / 5 days 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 / 10 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 / 19 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 / 19 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 / about 1 month ago
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What are some alternatives?

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

Conda - Binary package manager with support for environments.

GNU Guix - Like Nix but GNU.

Homebrew - The missing package manager for macOS

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

Chocolatey - The sane way to manage software on Windows.

Docker - Docker is an open platform that enables developers and system administrators to create distributed applications.