Xfce VS NixOS

Xfce

Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment for UNIX-like operating systems. It aims to be fast and low on system resources, while still being visually appealing and user friendly.

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.

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2023-07-04

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2023-09-12

Fully functional? - Xfce 4.14 First Impressions

NixOS videos

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First Impression of the NixOS Installation Procedure

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Xfce and NixOS)

NixOS

Linux

80 80%

Linux

20% 20

Front End Package Manager

0 0%

Front End Package Manager

100% 100

Operating Systems

100 100%

Operating Systems

0% 0

Package Manager

0 0%

Package Manager

100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Xfce and NixOS. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

Reviews

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

Xfce Reviews

9 Best Linux Desktop Environments to Use in 2023

XFCE is compatible with a wide range of Linux distros. Xfce does not offer sophisticated modifications, yet it is the most performance-oriented desktop environment. It’s a compact desktop environment with a comprehensive user interface. XFCE can be installed on a variety of UNIX systems. It has been reported to compile on Ubuntu, NetBSD, Solaris, Cygwin, OpenBSD, and macOS...

Source: geekflare.com

The 8 Best Ubuntu Desktop Environments (22.04 Jammy Jellyfish Linux)

Cinnamon desktop is another fork of the GNOME desktop. It has a rather conservative design and is similar to Xfce. It is uncomplicated to learn and from this reason might be a good choice for someone who is new to Linux.

Source: linuxconfig.org

Top 10 Best Desktop Environments in 2020

Lightweight and Low-resource can be considered the same, but in this case, there’s a difference. XFCE is a lightweight desktop environment even with a whole lot of built-in customizations and UI perks. LXDE, on the other hand, is a DE that is built to be as low-resource as possible. You certainly can add animations, but they need to be downloaded separately.

Source: www.journaldev.com

The 12 Best Linux Desktop Environments

At first look, Xfce looks a bit older and boring, but we assure you that your mindset will change after unpacking it because it is one of the best Linux lightweight desktop environments available. Xfce is becoming one of the most reliable choices, but it has a comparatively small team for development that results in late updates. Nowadays, many users think that Xfce is an...

Source: linuxhint.com

The Best Desktop Environments For Linux (We Tested Them So That You Don’t Have To)

Xfce is light on resources but proves to provide a feature-rich user experience. If you need a performance-centric desktop environment without needing advanced customizations, Xfce is a great choice to go with.

Source: itsfoss.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”.

Source: www.fosslinux.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, NixOS seems to be a lot more popular than Xfce. While we know about 246 links to NixOS, we've tracked only 19 mentions of Xfce. 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.

Xfce mentions (19)

distro hopping
Pick up your Desktop Environment based on your computer's specs, NOT on your visual preferences. (HINT: XFCE consumes way less system resources than GNOME and KDE). Source: 6 months ago
Lightweight dev tools.
It’s a bit of an interesting challenge and has forced me to re-examine some of my tool usage. I started by a minimal install of Debian “bookworm” with the XFCE Desktop Environment which chews through much fewer resources than the default GNOME 43 based environment (although more than LXDE - but there still has to be room for aesthetics). - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
I Still Use Windows 95 (archived, 2008)
Luckily you can get an efficient, clean Desktop Environment that works well and is actively developed: Xfce ( https://xfce.org/ ) I think you will like it. It has a very early-2000's feel IMO. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
best lightweight linux distro for old laptop and gaming
Well, it depends. It was better experience than FreeBSD 7.2 that's for sure. :) It was running Xorg with https://i3wm.org, a web-server, XMPP-server, PostgreSQL, few bots and dovecot / postfix (e-mail server). It was doing fine routing internet for 2PCs and a WiFi router for 10 years until its HDD died. For gaming... erm... I was able to play something like Theme Hospital or Syndicate Wars in dosbox. You have to... Source: about 1 year ago
Only one of the four XFCE4's desktop/workspace got hung and now I can't use wallpaper
Another resource for help might be xfce.org. It's a low traffic site, but responsive. Source: about 1 year 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 / about 1 month 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 / about 1 month 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 / about 2 months 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 / about 2 months 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 / 2 months ago

What are some alternatives?

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

KDE Plasma Desktop - Plasma Workspaces is the umbrella term for all graphical environments provided by KDE.

GNU Guix - Like Nix but GNU.

LXDE - Why will you like it? Less resource needs. You can use it on your less-pricey embedded board or salvaged computer. Component-based design. Don't want something in LXDE, or you don't want to use LXDE but only part of it?

Homebrew - The missing package manager for macOS

LXQt - The LXQt team is proud to announce the release of qtermwidget and qterminal, both in version 0. 8. 0. Read more..

pacman (package manager) - The pacman package manager is one of the major distinguishing features of ...

Xfce vs KDE Plasma Desktop

Xfce vs pacman (package manager)

NixOS vs KDE Plasma Desktop

NixOS vs GNU Guix

NixOS vs LXDE