Software Alternatives & Reviews

Raspbian VS NixOS

Compare Raspbian VS NixOS and see what are their differences

Raspbian logo Raspbian

Welcome to Raspbian. Raspbian is a free operating system based on Debian optimized for the Raspberry Pi hardware. An operating system is the set of basic programs and utilities that make your Raspberry Pi run.

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.
  • Raspbian Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-29
  • NixOS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12

Raspbian videos

Raspberry Pi 4 & Raspbian OS Review

More videos:

  • Review - Raspberry Pi 3B Review - Is Raspbian Linux a real, practial desktop computer?
  • Review - Raspbian OS for the Raspberry Pi 4 8GB 64 Bit OS Full Review

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 Raspbian and NixOS)
Linux
42 42%
58% 58
Front End Package Manager
Operating Systems
100 100%
0% 0
Package Manager
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 Raspbian and NixOS

Raspbian Reviews

11 Best Linux Distros For Programming And Developers [2020 Edition]
Distros like Ubuntu and Debian have managed to establish themselves as the top picks when it comes to the best Linux distro for developers. Some of the other great choices are openSUSE, Arch Linux, etc. If you intend to buy a credit-card-sized Raspberry Pi, Linux-based Raspbian is also a perfect way to start.
Source: fossbytes.com

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 Raspbian. While we know about 246 links to NixOS, we've tracked only 4 mentions of Raspbian. 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.

Raspbian mentions (4)

  • need help with image taking using a usb webcam
    Are you sure as normally folk use Raspberry Pi OS (Raspbian comes from here and not the Pi Foundation site here) ? Do you mean Raspberry PI OS and if so 32bit or 64bit and how up to date is it (i.e. Have you recently run apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade)? Source: about 1 year ago
  • Issues loading lightshowpi
    Yeah raspbian.org or something you download PiOS there and they have all the instructions. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Im trying to make a list of how to pronounce MOST Linux distros.
    Raspbian still exists at https://raspbian.org. Source: about 3 years ago
  • EE - Stuff to learn (during Freetime)
    Linux - Sooner or later you may be confronted with Linux. A free operating system, which is not like Windows or this thing with the fruit. It is used so many times, especially in the embedded field. It is not easy to get into it at the beginning, but an easy start is with Raspbian(and a Raspberry Pi, because it's optimised for that) or for Notebooks/PCs Ubuntu. There are plenty of distributions and you... Source: about 3 years ago

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 / 13 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 / 18 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 / 27 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 / 28 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 Raspbian and NixOS, you can also consider the following products

Ubuntu - Ubuntu is a Debian Linux-based open source operating system for desktop computers.

GNU Guix - Like Nix but GNU.

Windows 10 - Windows 10 unveils new innovations & is better than ever. Shop for Windows 10 laptops, PCs, tablets, apps & more. Learn about new upcoming features.

Homebrew - The missing package manager for macOS

Fedora - Fedora creates an innovative, free, and open source platform for hardware, clouds, and containers that enables software developers and community members to build tailored solutions for their users.

Chocolatey - The sane way to manage software on Windows.