elan vs goenv

elan manages installations of the Lean theorem prover on Linux, macOS and Windows. Its `lean` and `lake` binaries use a project’s `lean-toolchain` file to select the specified Lean version and download it when needed. The separate `elan` command provides manual control to install, select, run or uninstall Lean versions. The project supports version pinning, lockfiles, automatic switching, shell integration and CI/CD use. Installation options include shell instructions for Linux and macOS, a PowerShell method for Windows, and release downloads for supported platforms. The README recommends the Nixpkgs version on NixOS because toolchains downloaded by elan require patching there. Lake needs git to download dependencies. The project describes itself as a fork of rustup adapted for Lean infrastructure. elan is free at free, and the repository lists Apache-2.0 and MIT licenses. The releases page identifies v4.2.4 as the latest release.

goenv manages Go versions on Linux and macOS using a model similar to pyenv and rbenv. It supports global selections, per-project versions, and environment-variable overrides. Shim executables placed in PATH route Go commands to the selected installation, enabling automatic switching and project version pinning. The installation guide says goenv downloads prebuilt Go binaries provided by Google, while new Go versions are added automatically on a daily cron schedule. The project identifies v3 as its current stable version and recommends it for new installations; it says v3 is fully backward compatible with v2. Version 2 receives security patches and critical bug fixes, with support ending on or before December 31, 2028. Setup documentation covers Bash and Zsh, including a .bashrc note for Ubuntu. Installation options include Homebrew and ZPlug for Zsh, and the README includes AWS CodeBuild guidance. goenv is free under the MIT license.