Autopackage
 Installing Inkscape and downloading dependencies | |
| Developer(s) | Mike Hearn |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 1.2.0
/ October 18, 2006 |
| Operating system | Linux |
| Type | Package management system |
| License | LGPL |
| Website | autopackage.org |
Autopackage is a relatively new package management system for GNU/Linux, intended to be usable under all distributions. Unlike the RPM and Deb package formats, Autopackage checks for the presence of dependencies on the actual system, rather than querying a database of package information. Although this reduces compatibility issues with different package naming conventions, it does mean that Autopackage is slower than distributions' native formats.
Autopackage packages are actually executable bash scripts, so that they can be installed simply by running them.
Autopackage is intended to be used for installing non-core applications such as word processors, web browsers, and games, rather than core libraries and applications such as shells. For core applications and libraries, the distribution's native package manager is recommended for speed and compatibility reasons. Non-core libraries are something of a thorny issue, on the one hand packaging them allows installation on a greater range of systems, on the other hand there can be issues with conflicts when native packages are installed that depends on libraries that have been installed by autopackage.
Autopackage differs from other executable installer systems for GNU/Linux such as the Loki installer in that Autopackage is specially designed to be compatible with as many distributions as possible.
An alternative system with the same goals as Autopackage is OBLISK. 1
Autopackage uses APbuild to strip bogus dependencies, "cross-compile" to make C++ programs compatible with different versions of g++, and fix GLIBC version symbols, among other things. Programs that use autopackage must also be relocatable, meaning they can be installed into any location without needing to be recompiled. It is thus possible to install an autopackage as a non-root user in the user's home directory.
Autopackage has been starting to gain some popularity. High profile projects such as Gaim and Inkscape now offer an Autopackage installer, besides the distribution-specific packages and source tarballs. In addition, the popular software website Freshmeat.net offers content submitters a field to put the URL of Autopackages.
Autopackage is still under active development.
See also
- Klik - Another project, with a similar goal but a different approach.