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On my macOS work machine, Nix has replaced Homebrew. The ability to switch between generations of your system state [1] when a new install goes awry is underrat
by jingwen 9y ago
On my macOS work machine, Nix has replaced Homebrew. The ability to switch between generations of your system state [1] when a new install goes awry is underrated, IMO.
[1] https://nixos.org/nix/manual/#sec-profiles https://nixos.org/nix/manual/#sec-profiles
- pfranz 9y agoI really think the biggest roadblock is the command line interface[1]. To replace Homebrew you only need like 3 or 4 commands. Right now, that means 3 or 4 different nix commands with weird arguments. The way Nix is currently set up is great and make sense for the OS, but Homebrew has a much simpler use-case (single-user, all user land packages, very low barrier to entry). I can't wait until that ticket is addressed. [1] https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/779 https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/779
- j_s 9y agoWhy not both? Does Homebrew conflict with Nix in such a way that only one is possible at a time? I can definitely see giving Nix priority for work-related development, but I would like to know if Homebrew can still fill in as a backup option.
- pfranz 9y agoI've installed both without issue. It might be a headache long-term because of libs and installing things in both systems, etc. Just make sure you know which comes first in PATH.