nFPM vs release-it

nFPM is a free Go tool for creating DEB, RPM, APK, IPK, Arch Linux, and MSIX software packages. It can be run from the command line or used as a Go library, and the project describes it as a single binary without external runtime dependencies. Package definitions use YAML and can specify metadata, files, dependencies, scripts, and format-specific overrides. Installation options include package managers, prebuilt archives, Docker, Go install, or building from source; documented package managers include Homebrew, Scoop, APT, Yum, Winget, and NPM. GoReleaser can use nFPM to generate and publish Linux packages and Windows MSIX packages. The project lists Linux, macOS, and Windows as target platforms and identifies its license as MIT. The install guide says release artifacts are checksummed and the checksum is signed with cosign; Docker images are also signed with cosign. MSIX support is described as experimental, and symlinks are skipped. The project presents nFPM as an option for users who want package creation without dependencies such as Ruby and tar.

release-it has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.