You can in fact run most package managers without root
It is very clear from the context that dehrmann was talking about Linux distro package managers (Apt, Yum, Dnf, Apk, etc.) and as far as I know they all require root, or at least I have never once seen someone use them without root.
I figured most package managers (brew, pip, nix, npm, etc.) are not actually one of the few Linux distro package managers. You listed them almost exhaustively after all (excepting pacman).
Right but as I said from the context it was clear he was talking about distro package managers, not language package managers.
Nix requires root (at least by default). Brew I'll give you - I didn't know you can use it on Linux. Do people actually do that enough that it works reliably?
We love to praise Unix, but it wasn't built for modern multi-user use. FUSE was an after-thought. So were package managers, and they got added, but they require root.
Comments
You don't need to install it with apt
Indeed but the claim was:
It is very clear from the context that dehrmann was talking about Linux distro package managers (Apt, Yum, Dnf, Apk, etc.) and as far as I know they all require root, or at least I have never once seen someone use them without root.
I figured most package managers (brew, pip, nix, npm, etc.) are not actually one of the few Linux distro package managers. You listed them almost exhaustively after all (excepting pacman).
Right but as I said from the context it was clear he was talking about distro package managers, not language package managers.
Nix requires root (at least by default). Brew I'll give you - I didn't know you can use it on Linux. Do people actually do that enough that it works reliably?
I don't think that was clear. If they really meant that, which I honestly doubt because it would be so obviously false, then I agree with you.
Clearly talking about OS level package managers.