<p>When using Nix, you need to download and install a huge amount of Nix related stuff that is not required if you are not using Nix.</p>
<p>I am sure you have heard the expression &quot;the only reason I have seen so far is because I am standing on the shoulders of giants&quot;. This is also true for Cardano, which stands on the shoulders of a <em>huge</em> number of libraries.</p>
<p>There are a small number of assests like PDF files, but if you look in the git repos, you will see that they are well over 95% code. However, when you install Nix you are installing binaries (for everything down to the most obvious executables like <code>ls</code>).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-03-07T20:58:13.507Z
2022-03-07T20:58:13.507Z
Erik de Castro Lopo
<p>What is the reason behind the build process with nix requiring so much disk space when building cardano-node?</p>
<p>I totally understand when video games with 4K videos, high resolution textures, large trained neural networks etc take a lot of space. But shouldn't it just be &quot;code&quot; for cardano-node? Are there any big non-code assets or is there a lot of code duplication? (and anything which can be done about it besides buying a larger disk?)</p>
<p>Building with cabal seems to use a bit less space, but it's still GB's.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/t5aFk.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/t5aFk.png" alt="nix build process" /></a></p>

<cardano-node><nix><build>
Why does building cardano-node require unreasonable amounts of disk space?
# Why does building cardano-node require unreasonable amounts of disk space?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-03-07)

What is the reason behind the build process with nix requiring so much disk space when building cardano-node?

I totally understand when video games with 4K videos, high resolution textures, large trained neural networks etc take a lot of space. But shouldn't it just be "code" for cardano-node? Are there any big non-code assets or is there a lot of code duplication? (and anything which can be done about it besides buying a larger disk?)

Building with cabal seems to use a bit less space, but it's still GB's.

[![nix build process](https://i.sstatic.net/t5aFk.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/t5aFk.png)

**Tags:** cardano-node, nix, build

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-03-07. Score: 1

When using Nix, you need to download and install a huge amount of Nix related stuff that is not required if you are not using Nix.

I am sure you have heard the expression "the only reason I have seen so far is because I am standing on the shoulders of giants". This is also true for Cardano, which stands on the shoulders of a *huge* number of libraries.

There are a small number of assests like PDF files, but if you look in the git repos, you will see that they are well over 95% code. However, when you install Nix you are installing binaries (for everything down to the most obvious executables like `ls`).


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