There is no such thing as DX with any digital tool. Its just pain and suffering all the way down. Sooner you realize it and make peace with it the better.

> Except on Linux you have to remember which of the several different package managers each specific system uses. Do I use apt, apt-get, pacman, yum, dnf, flatpacks, build from source?

How often are you switching systems that you can't remember the package manager?

You could just alias your package manager to something more memorable if it's really a problem, but I feel like this argument only really applies to servers where you may be logging into a variety of different distributions every day.

Nix is not the same as nixos, and in this case the distinction matters. It has to step carefully around Apple's updates. This further highlights the fact Apple lacks the same quality package management as some linux distros. Nixpkgs (on macos), Ports, and Homebrew packages are toys compared to the EFFORT that goes into maintaining Debian and Redhat packages.

In terms of package management SOFTWARE, however, nix (and guix, lix, etc.) are state of the art and work fairly similar in both linux and macos. A deeper integration with the OS would have been nice.