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pnpm VS NixOS

Compare pnpm VS NixOS and see what are their differences

pnpm logo pnpm

Fast, disk space efficient npm installs

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.
  • pnpm Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-03-23
  • NixOS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12

pnpm features and specs

  • Efficient Disk Space Usage
    pnpm uses a unique symlink-based approach to store only a single copy of each package version, reducing disk space usage significantly.
  • Fast Installations
    Due to its disk-efficient storage, pnpm can perform installations much faster compared to npm and yarn, especially in projects with large node_modules.
  • Strict Dependency Resolution
    pnpm enforces stricter rules for dependency management, ensuring that different projects don't accidentally share dependencies, reducing the risk of dependency conflicts.
  • Isolation of Dependencies
    Each project gets a strict isolation of dependencies, as pnpm creates a node_modules structure with symbolic links, avoiding pollution from conflicting package versions.
  • Compatibility with npm
    pnpm is fully compatible with the npm registry and supports all common npm commands, making it easy to transition between npm and pnpm.

Possible disadvantages of pnpm

  • Learning Curve
    Developers familiar with npm might find some aspects of pnpm unfamiliar, requiring a learning curve to understand its structure and symlink-based storage.
  • Tooling Ecosystem
    Some tools and scripts that assume npm's or yarn's node_modules layout might not work out of the box with pnpm, requiring additional configuration or workarounds.
  • Less Mature Community
    Despite its growing popularity, pnpm has a smaller community compared to npm and yarn, which might lead to fewer third-party resources or community support.
  • Complexity of Symbolic Links
    The use of symbolic links can introduce complexity in some environments or during debugging, especially if the environment does not handle symlinks well.

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.

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

pnpm videos

Why I stopped using NPM for PNPM And You should too! | #CodingPhase

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 pnpm and NixOS)
Front End Package Manager
Package Manager
15 15%
85% 85
Windows Tools
30 30%
70% 70
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare pnpm and NixOS

pnpm Reviews

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NixOS Reviews

The 10 Best Immutable Linux Distributions in 2024
Why itโ€™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 โ€œdependency hellโ€.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, NixOS seems to be a lot more popular than pnpm. While we know about 273 links to NixOS, we've tracked only 3 mentions of pnpm. 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.

pnpm mentions (3)

  • Don't trust anyone, not even update
    Imagine npm but faster and it uses symlinks n stuff to reduce disk use and make node_modules not a huge nightmare Https://pnpm.js.org. Source: about 4 years ago
  • Next.js TypeScript Template
    Pnpm is a cool alternative to yarn or npm as it is faster and can reuse downloaded packages to reduce the size of node_modules. - Source: dev.to / over 4 years ago
  • [Talk] Sharing Typescript Types between your Frontend and Backend
    Lerna is great, as is pnpm (https://pnpm.js.org/) which we use at work. PNPM is a little faster, as it's sharing all the reused dependencies from a central location with symlinks, so it makes installing faster. Source: over 4 years ago

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
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What are some alternatives?

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

npm - npm is a package manager for Node.

GNU Guix - Like Nix but GNU.

Yarn - Yarn is a package manager for your code.

Homebrew - The missing package manager for macOS

Open-Registry - JavaScript Package Registry funded, developed and maintained by the community, for the community

asdf-vm - An extendable version manager