Software Alternatives & Startups

Yarn VS pkgsrc

Compare Yarn VS pkgsrc and see what are their differences

Yarn

Yarn is a package manager for your code.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
pkgsrc

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

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Yarn seems to be a lot more popular than pkgsrc. While we know about 120 links to Yarn, we've tracked only 11 mentions of pkgsrc.

social mentions
120 vs 11
Front End Package Manager popularity
87% vs 13%
alternatives listed
240+ vs 86

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Yarn
pkgsrc
Website yarnpkg.com pkgsrc.org
Pricing
Open source
Open source
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Yarn 5 features
pkgsrc 5 features
  • Speed
    Yarn uses an efficient caching mechanism and parallel installation to improve package installation times, making it faster than many other package managers.
  • Reliability
    With its deterministic dependency resolution, Yarn ensures that a project will work on all systems exactly the same way, preventing the 'works on my machine' problem.
  • Security
    Yarn uses checksums to verify the integrity of every installed package before execution, ensuring higher security standards.
  • Offline Mode
    Yarn has an offline mode capability which allows developers to install dependencies offline if they've been installed remotely at least once before.
  • Workspaces
    Yarn Workspaces allow developers to manage multiple packages within a project, facilitating efficient mono-repo management.

Possible disadvantages

  • Complexity
    Yarn introduces additional commands and configurations which may pose a learning curve for developers who are used to npm.
  • Disk Usage
    Yarn's offline cache can consume more disk space compared to npm, which could be an issue for projects with very large dependencies.
  • Compatibility
    Some older Node.js projects and dependencies may have compatibility issues with Yarn, requiring adjustments or the use of npm.
  • Network Incompatibility
    Yarn's fetching mechanism sometimes doesn't work properly behind certain corporate proxies or firewalls, leading to network issues.
  • Smaller Community
    Compared to npm, Yarn has a smaller user base, which can result in fewer community resources, tutorials, and third-party tools.
  • 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

  • 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.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Yarn
pkgsrc

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Yarn is considered a good choice for developers managing dependencies in JavaScript projects due to its speed, stability, and flexible workflow.

Why this product is good

  • Yarn is a popular package manager for JavaScript that offers faster performance and reliability compared to other options like npm. It offers features like deterministic locking, offline mode, and enhanced security with checksums to verify package integrity.

Recommended for

  • Developers looking for a faster alternative to npm
  • Projects that require deterministic package management
  • Teams that prioritize security and integrity of dependencies
  • Developers needing an efficient build system for complex projects

No analysis of pkgsrc yet.

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Yarn 3 videos + Add
pkgsrc 2 videos + Add

Yarn Snob Reviews New Lion Brand Yarns [A Few Big Hits and Bigger Misses]

More videos

  • - Yarn Review - Lionbrand Vs Caron | Which Do You Choose | Bag-O-Day Crochet Video
  • - My First Shipment from Ice Yarns - Comparison & Review | Yay For Yarn

pkgsrc on ChromeOS

More videos

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

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Yarn
pkgsrc
87% 87%
13% 13%
80% 80%
20% 20%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%

User comments

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

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Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Yarn 120 mentions
pkgsrc 11 mentions
  • NPMX – a fast, modern browser for the NPM registry
    Really fun / cool project! I've always defaulted to using https://yarnpkg.com/ to search for packages cause the npmjs.com search is so slow, but while the yarnpkg.com search is super fast, actually clicking on a package and seeing the... - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • 100 Most Useful Open Source Projects
    Yarn — https://yarnpkg.com Technology: JS package manager. Backed / sponsored by: Community / contributors. How to generate revenue: Managed CI integration, enterprise features, tooling. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Top 5 Essential Build Tools for Modern Development
    Introduced by Facebook (now Meta) to address some of the performance and security concerns with early npm versions, Yarn quickly gained traction as a fast, reliable, and secure alternative for JavaScript package management. While npm has... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago

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  • 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:... - 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... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Show HN: Brioche – A new Nix-like package manager
    Https://pkgsrc.org/ from netbsd runs on many systems. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago

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Alternatives to Yarn and pkgsrc

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