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I have the same concerns and have been using Nix for my Mac package manager [1] instead. Functionally it's far better, though with far fewer packages available

I have the same concerns and have been using Nix for my Mac package manager [1] instead. Functionally it's far better, though with far fewer packages available currently. [1]:https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11772686 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11772686

pfranz 10y ago
I've been meaning to try out Nix for probably years. I work in vfx and large facilities have particular needs that most packaging systems don't support, but there's a huge about of investment that can be leveraged (dependency resolution, caching). I did a fresh install of macOS with Sierra and decided to use Nix instead of Homebrew this time around. So far I've only started reading through the docs and only have a few things installed; git, vim, tmux. What are your thoughts about using it as a Homebrew alternative? I've been using Homebrew for years and have been a huge fan so far. I often look at formulas when trying to build things from scratch on Linux.
- SkyMarshal 10y ago
  If you're considering it for a Homebrew alternative, the main thing is to make a list of all the packages you must have, and then all the ones you would like to have, and then check if they're in Nix. Decide whether you can live with that or not. Besides that, it's great. The about page sums its features up nicely: http://nixos.org/nix/about.html http://nixos.org/nix/about.html
eltoozero 10y ago
>Functionally it's far better For example?
- SkyMarshal 10y ago
  The about page sums its features up pretty well, see if there's anything that particularly appeals to you there: http://nixos.org/nix/about.html http://nixos.org/nix/about.html Also the HN link in my previous comment has some good discussion of it, just scroll down past the initial Docker comparison thread. For me the main benefit of it is that I trust it. It doesn't take over system directories like Homebrew, which bugs me even though I'm on a single-user system where that should be ok. Both installs and uninstalls are deterministic, complete, and don't screw anything else up in the system. You can install different versions of the same package side-by-side, which the Debian and Red Hat Alternatives systems also enable, but Nix is more sophisticated about it tagging everything with a cryptographic hash of its build tree. MacPorts and pkgsrc may also provide some of this, but Nix feels more like the git of package managers than anything else I've used, eg the one that finally gets packaging right.

pfranz 10y ago

I've been meaning to try out Nix for probably years. I work in vfx and large facilities have particular needs that most packaging systems don't support, but there's a huge about of investment that can be leveraged (dependency resolution, caching). I did a fresh install of macOS with Sierra and decided to use Nix instead of Homebrew this time around. So far I've only started reading through the docs and only have a few things installed; git, vim, tmux. What are your thoughts about using it as a Homebrew alternative? I've been using Homebrew for years and have been a huge fan so far. I often look at formulas when trying to build things from scratch on Linux.

SkyMarshal 10y ago
If you're considering it for a Homebrew alternative, the main thing is to make a list of all the packages you must have, and then all the ones you would like to have, and then check if they're in Nix. Decide whether you can live with that or not. Besides that, it's great. The about page sums its features up nicely: http://nixos.org/nix/about.html http://nixos.org/nix/about.html

eltoozero 10y ago

>Functionally it's far better For example?

SkyMarshal 10y ago
The about page sums its features up pretty well, see if there's anything that particularly appeals to you there: http://nixos.org/nix/about.html http://nixos.org/nix/about.html Also the HN link in my previous comment has some good discussion of it, just scroll down past the initial Docker comparison thread. For me the main benefit of it is that I trust it. It doesn't take over system directories like Homebrew, which bugs me even though I'm on a single-user system where that should be ok. Both installs and uninstalls are deterministic, complete, and don't screw anything else up in the system. You can install different versions of the same package side-by-side, which the Debian and Red Hat Alternatives systems also enable, but Nix is more sophisticated about it tagging everything with a cryptographic hash of its build tree. MacPorts and pkgsrc may also provide some of this, but Nix feels more like the git of package managers than anything else I've used, eg the one that finally gets packaging right.