Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

pkgsrc VS Clojure

Compare pkgsrc VS Clojure 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.

pkgsrc logo pkgsrc

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

Clojure logo Clojure

Clojure is a dynamic, general-purpose programming language, combining the approachability and interactive development of a scripting language with an efficient and robust infrastructure for multithreaded programming.
  • pkgsrc Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-30
  • Clojure Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-19

We recommend LibHunt Clojure for discovery and comparisons of trending Clojure projects.

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.

Clojure features and specs

  • Functional Programming Paradigm
    Clojure emphasizes immutability and first-class functions, which can lead to more predictable and maintainable code.
  • Interoperability with Java
    Clojure runs on the JVM, allowing seamless integration with the vast ecosystem of Java libraries and tools.
  • REPL Driven Development
    Clojure's Read-Eval-Print Loop (REPL) allows for interactive programming, making it easier to test and debug code in real time.
  • Concise Syntax
    Clojure's syntax is minimalistic and expressive, which can lead to more concise and readable code.
  • Concurrency Support
    Clojure provides strong support for concurrent programming with features like Software Transactional Memory (STM) and immutable data structures.

Possible disadvantages of Clojure

  • Steep Learning Curve
    The functional programming paradigm and Lisp-like syntax can be challenging for newcomers, particularly those from imperative programming backgrounds.
  • Performance Overhead
    Clojure's emphasis on immutability can introduce performance overhead compared to languages that use mutable data structures.
  • Limited Tooling
    While improving, the ecosystem for Clojure is not as mature as for some other mainstream languages, which can pose challenges in finding robust development and debugging tools.
  • Less Mainstream
    Clojure is not as commonly used as languages like Python or Java, which can make it harder to find experienced developers or community support.
  • Verbose Error Messages
    Error messages in Clojure can sometimes be verbose and difficult to understand, which can complicate the debugging process.

Analysis of Clojure

Overall verdict

  • Clojure is generally considered a good programming language, particularly for certain types of development projects.

Why this product is good

  • Clojure is a modern, functional programming language that runs on the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). It is known for its simplicity, expressiveness, and powerful abstractions which can enhance developer productivity. Clojure also emphasizes immutability and offers excellent support for concurrent programming, making it suitable for building robust and scalable applications.

Recommended for

  • Developers looking for a functional language that runs on the JVM.
  • Projects that require scalable and concurrent applications.
  • Those interested in data manipulation and transformation, given Clojure's strong sequence and collection processing capabilities.
  • Developers who appreciate Lisp-like syntax and homoiconicity.

pkgsrc videos

pkgsrc on ChromeOS

More videos:

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

Clojure videos

What is the business value of Clojure?

More videos:

  • Review - Blog in Clojure Code Review
  • Review - Clojure Web App Code Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to pkgsrc and Clojure)
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Programming Language
0 0%
100% 100
Package Manager
100 100%
0% 0
OOP
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using pkgsrc and Clojure. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Clojure should be more popular than pkgsrc. It has been mentiond 42 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.

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 / about 1 year 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 / about 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

Clojure mentions (42)

  • Ease Comes After
    One of the most famous talks in computer science is Simple Made Easy by Rich Hickey, The creator of the programming language Clojure. In it, he explains that, "simple" and "easy" are not the same thing. He refers to the word origins of the two words:. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Synchronous Functions in Dart
    This series of post will try to explain a complex topic: concurrent and parallel programming, in Dart. I think the only way to deal with that is using the Erlang VM (BEAM), but Clojure and other functional languages are usually doing better job on this part. Unfortunately, to me, most of other languages using OOP don't offer a great abstraction to concurrency and parallelism, but during the last decade, things are... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Which Lisp? Beginner
    Oversimplifying, there are three big variants: Common Lisp, Scheme, Clojure. Each of them has a lot of somewhat similar implementations: * Clojure: A lot of support for immutable data. It runs in the JVM so you will have a lot of the libraries you are use to. Probably the best option for you. https://clojure.org/ * Scheme, in particular Racket: Mostly functional, and in particular Racket has a lot of support to... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Create a Server Driven CLI from your REST API
    Another project of mine Bob can be seen as an example of spec-first design. All its tooling follow that idea and its CLI inspired Climate. A lot of Bob uses Clojure a language that I cherish and who's ideas make me think better in every other place too. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Scheming About Clojure
    Clojure is a LISP for the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). As a schemer, I wondered if I should give Clojure a go professionally. After all, I enjoy Rich Hickey's talks and even Uncle Bob is a Clojure fan. So I considered strength and weaknesses from my point of view:. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

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

Conda - Binary package manager with support for environments.

Elixir - Dynamic, functional language designed for building scalable and maintainable applications

Homebrew - The missing package manager for macOS

Python - Python is a clear and powerful object-oriented programming language, comparable to Perl, Ruby, Scheme, or Java.

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

Rust - A safe, concurrent, practical language