Nix Starter Guide

What is Nix and NixOS?

You may have heard of Nix before. The name can be a bit confusing at first, as Nix is:

• A programming language
• A package manager
• A Linux distribution (Known as NixOS)

This guide will focus on Nix as the package manager, and how it can make your life easier.

The Problem

On macOS, the intended way to download new programs is to open the developer’s website and execute an installer (or disk image) that installs the program. This approach can be time-consuming, as well as generate confusion when a program has to be updated. For this reason, many people use Homebrew as a package manager for macOS.