---
title: Could Nix and devenv replace Docker Compose?
date: 2024-11-11
permalink: daily/2024/11/11/could-nix-and-devenv-replace-docker-compose
tags:
  - software-development
  - drupal
  - php
  - nix
  - linux
cta: ~
snippet: |
  Could Nix and devenv replace Docker and Docker Compose for me in my Drupal projects?
---

I started using the Nix package manager [in September 2022][0] as a replacement for Ansible to manage my dotfiles.

Since then, I've switched to daily-driving NixOS as my main operating system and started to use Nix instead of Docker for some development projects.

Even though I'm running Linux, there's a benefit to not running containers for simple projects as well as the reproducibility that Nix provides.

I hadn't invested much time in using Nix as Docker replacement for Drupal projects, but this week, I've started to look at [devenv][1] - a development tool based on Nix.

As well as declaring and locking the package versions I need for each project, it also manages the services I need, such as PHP-FPM and MariaDB or MySQL.

It also configures Git hooks, test scripts and custom processes, such as running Tailwind CSS.

I've configured it for a few projects this week and it could be a potential Docker replacement for me.

If you want to see an example, [see this repo on GitHub][2].

[0]: https://github.com/opdavies/dotfiles.nix/commit/af1d8d37
[1]: https://devenv.sh
[2]: https://github.com/opdavies/drupal-london-meetup/blob/main/devenv.nix