# Difference between Elixir and Elixir-Dev in FreeBSD **URL:** \ **Category:** Discussions\ **Tags:** freebsd, learning-elixir\ **Created:** [September 16, 2024, 3:57am UTC](https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/difference-between-elixir-and-elixir-dev-in-freebsd/66111 "2024-09-16T03:57:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ariandanim](https://forum.elixirforum.com/user_avatar/forum.elixirforum.com/ariandanim/32/27715_2.png) [@ariandanim](https://forum.elixirforum.com/u/ariandanim)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 3:57am UTC](https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/difference-between-elixir-and-elixir-dev-in-freebsd/66111/1 "2024-09-16T03:57:13Z")
I read that installing Elixir in Freebsd 14 has 2 distinct such as : - Run: `pkg install elixir` or `pkg install elixir-devel` What the different both of them? ---
**Author:** ![mudasobwa](https://forum.elixirforum.com/user_avatar/forum.elixirforum.com/mudasobwa/32/41119_2.png) [@mudasobwa](https://forum.elixirforum.com/u/mudasobwa)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 5:41am UTC](https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/difference-between-elixir-and-elixir-dev-in-freebsd/66111/2 "2024-09-16T05:41:58Z")
The wild-guess would be: as usually, the former is runtime and the latter is compiler+tools. One should not in general use system libraries for erlang/elixir. Use [`asdf`](https://asdf-vm.com/) version manager or like. ---
**Author:** ![ariandanim](https://forum.elixirforum.com/user_avatar/forum.elixirforum.com/ariandanim/32/27715_2.png) [@ariandanim](https://forum.elixirforum.com/u/ariandanim)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 6:33am UTC](https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/difference-between-elixir-and-elixir-dev-in-freebsd/66111/3 "2024-09-16T06:33:10Z")
> [@mudasobwa](#): > > Use [`asdf`](https://asdf-vm.com/) version manager or like. asdf currently not support in Freebsd Sir ---
**Author:** ![krasenyp](https://forum.elixirforum.com/user_avatar/forum.elixirforum.com/krasenyp/32/39733_2.png) [@krasenyp](https://forum.elixirforum.com/u/krasenyp)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 8:05am UTC](https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/difference-between-elixir-and-elixir-dev-in-freebsd/66111/4 "2024-09-16T08:05:48Z")
The binary packages come from the ports tree and usually the `*-devel` packages are more up-to-date with dependencies. The easiest way to check what’s the difference between `elixir` and `elixir-devel` is to check the port dependencies and/or applied patches. After a quick glance, it looks like `elixir` depends on Erlang 25 and `elixir-devel` on Erlang 27. You can use the tools that FreeBSD provides to inspect information about installed or not installed packages, `pkg info` and `pkg rquery` respectively. ---
**Author:** ![sbuttgereit](https://forum.elixirforum.com/user_avatar/forum.elixirforum.com/sbuttgereit/32/30162_2.png) [@sbuttgereit](https://forum.elixirforum.com/u/sbuttgereit)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 8:30am UTC](https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/difference-between-elixir-and-elixir-dev-in-freebsd/66111/5 "2024-09-16T08:30:03Z")
> [@krasenyp](#): > > After a quick glance, it looks like `elixir` depends on Erlang 25 and `elixir-devel` on Erlang 27. It also looked like `elixir` was on the 1.16.3 version and `elixir-devel` was 1.17.2, too. ---
**Author:** ![krasenyp](https://forum.elixirforum.com/user_avatar/forum.elixirforum.com/krasenyp/32/39733_2.png) [@krasenyp](https://forum.elixirforum.com/u/krasenyp)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2024, 8:31am UTC](https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/difference-between-elixir-and-elixir-dev-in-freebsd/66111/6 "2024-09-16T08:31:23Z")
My bad. I don’t know why I looked up only the Erlang version… Thanks for pointing out another difference. ---
**Author:** ![dch](https://forum.elixirforum.com/user_avatar/forum.elixirforum.com/dch/32/2682_2.png) [@dch](https://forum.elixirforum.com/u/dch)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 6:42pm UTC](https://forum.elixirforum.com/t/difference-between-elixir-and-elixir-dev-in-freebsd/66111/7 "2024-09-25T18:42:53Z")
FreeBSD’s not linux, I 100% use the 2 main elixir flavours for production usage. They are very up to date, if anybody needs an older version, we can organise that. Just open a ticket at [bugs.freebsd.org](http://bugs.freebsd.org) and I’ll get to it. The main difference now is: - `lang/elixir` tracks stable elixir (1.16.x release), uses an older erlang release (`lang/erlang` which is OTP25.x presently) - `lang/elixir-devel` tracks latest elixir (1.17.x releases atm), and uses the latest OTP release `lang/erlang-runtime27` available thats compatible) There are 2 distinct package repositories available on FreeBSD. The default `quarterly` is taken from the faster-moving `latest` every quarter, and gets security fixes only backported to it. the `latest` one is YOLO arch-style, updated very frequently, in line with OTP & Elixir updates. That said, we use it in production and I’ve not had any issues in years. It depends on your appetite for stability vs up-to-date-ness. asdf should be available soon on FreeBSD, there’s patches for it ready atm, or you can use `sysutils/mise` which is already present. RIIR its nice and fast.