Tim@[email protected] IMHO they are quite different in their goals. Flatpak etc. are intended for regular end-users, nix is not. Flatpak etc. attempt to provide application confinement, nix does not. Nix just has different use cases. Yes, there is an overlap, but for regular end-users this overlap is IMHO minimal (because nix is just not targeted at regular end-users).
@[email protected] hence, I would argue that Flatpak etc. brought something new to the table. We did not really have packaging formats before that were distribution-independent, end-user-suitable and supported usable application confinement, did we?
@[email protected] Of course, it can be debated (one may even say it has been exhaustively debated :P) if they are any good at what they do.