This is a list of notable softwarepackage manager systems, categorized first by package format (binary, source code, hybrid) and then by operating system family.[1]
The followingpackage manager systems distribute software inbinary package form; i.e., allexecutables arecompiled and ready to install and use.
- dpkg: Originally used byDebian and now byUbuntu and derivatives. Uses the.deb format and was the first to have a widely known dependency resolution tool,APT. Thencurses-based front-end for APT,aptitude, is also a popular package manager for Debian-based systems;
- Flatpak: A containerized/sandboxed packaging format formerly named xdg-app;
- Snap: Cross-distribution containerized package manager, non-free on the server-side, originally developed for Ubuntu;
- Nix: Aims to make package management reliable and reproducible. It provides atomic upgrades and rollbacks, side-by-side installation of multiple versions of a package, multi-user package management, and easy setup of build environments;
- Pacman: Used inArch Linux,Frugalware andDeLi Linux. Its binary package format is a compressed tar archive (default file extension:
.pkg.tar.zst) built using the makepkg utility (which comes bundled with pacman) and a specialized type of shell script called a PKGBUILD;- Pamac: A user-friendly frontend to pacman with both aCLI and aGUI, built and maintained byManjaro;
- Portage: A package management system invoked by the
emerge command, originally created for and used byGentoo Linux;- Entropy: Used by and created forSabayon Linux. It works with binary packages that are bzip2-compressed tar archives (file extension:
.tbz2), that are created using Entropy, from tbz2 binaries produced by Portage from ebuilds, a type of specialized shell script;
- RPM Package Manager: Created byRed Hat. RPM is theLinux Standard Base packaging format and the base of a number of additional tools:
- slackpkg;
- XBPS (X Binary Package System): Used byVoid Linux.
- apk-tools: Used byAlpine Linux. Originally a collection of shell scripts, but has been since rewritten in C.
Linux (discontinued)
[edit]- OpenPKG: Cross-platform package management system based onRPM Package Manager;
- PISI: Stands for "Packages Installed Successfully as Intended"; used by Pisi Linux.[2]Pardus used to use Pisi, but migrated to APT in 2013.[3]
- Red Hat'sup2date, an out-of-date/discontinued predecessor toYUM.
- Accrescent
- Amazon Appstore: Alternativeapp store forAndroid devices;
- Aptoide: application for installing mobile applications which runs on the Android operating system. In Aptoide there is no centralized store; instead, each user manages their own store.
- F-Droid: Alternative app store for Android, whose official repository contains onlyfree software;
- Samsung Galaxy Store: An app store developed by Samsung for Android,Tizen,Windows Mobile andBada devices.
- GetJar: An independent mobile phone app store founded in Lithuania in 2004;
- Google Play: Online app store developed by Google for Android devices that license the proprietary Google Application set;
- Huawei AppGallery: An app store developed by Huawei for Android devices andHarmonyOS devices;
- SlideME: Alternative app store for Android.
- FreeBSD pkg – FreeBSD binary packages are built on top of source basedFreeBSD Ports and managed with the pkg tool;
- OpenBSD ports: The infrastructure behind the binary packages onOpenBSD;
- pkgsrc: A cross-platform package manager, with regular binary packages provided forNetBSD,Linux andmacOS by multiple vendors;
- dpkg: Used as part ofDebian GNU/kFreeBSD;
- OpenPKG: Cross-platform package management system based onrpm;
- PC-BSD: Up to and including version 8.2[4] uses files with the.pbi (Push Button Installer) filename extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. Each PBI is self-contained and uses de-duplicated private dependencies to avoid version conflicts. An autobuild system tracks theFreeBSD ports collection and generates new PBIs daily. PC-BSD also uses theFreeBSD pkg binary package system; new packages are built approximately every two weeks from both a stable and rolling release branch of theFreeBSD ports tree.
Superseded:
The following package management systems distribute thesource code of their apps. Either the user must know how to compile the packages, or they come with a script that automates the compilation process. For example, inGoboLinux a recipe file contains information on how to download, unpack, compile and install a package using itsCompile tool. In both cases, the user must provide the computing power and time needed to compile the app, and is legally responsible for the consequences of compiling the package.
- FreeBSD Ports is an original implementation of source based software management system commonly referred to asPorts collection. It gave way and inspired many others systems;
- OpenBSD ports is a Perl based reimplementation of ports collection;
- ABS is used byArch Linux to automate binary packages building from source or even other binary archives, with automatic download and dependency checking;
- apt-build is used by distributions which usedeb packages, allowing automatic compiling and installation of software in a deb source repository;
- Sorcery isSourcemage GNU/Linux'sbash based package management program that automatically downloads software from their original site and compiles and installs it on the local machine;
- Fink, forOS X, derives partially from dpkg/apt and partially from ports;
- MacPorts, formerly called DarwinPorts, originated from theOpenDarwin project;
- Homebrew, with closeGit integration;
- pkgsrc can be used to install software directly from source-code, or to use the binary packages provided by several independent vendors.
- Nix:Package manager that manages software in apurely functional programming way, with multi-user support, atomic upgrades, and rollbacks. Allows installing multiple versions or variants of software at the same time. SupportsmacOS and cross-Linux distributions;
- Portage andemerge are used byGentoo Linux,Funtoo Linux, andSabayon Linux. It is inspired by the BSDports collection and uses text basedebuilds to automatically download, customize, build, and update packages from source code. It has automatic dependency checking and allows installing multiple versions of a software package in differentslots on the same system. Hasuse flags to allow fully customizing a software build to suit the needs of a platform in an automated way. While source code distributing and customizing is the preferred method, some larger packages that would take many hours to compile on a typical desktop computer are also offered as pre-compiled binaries to ease installing;
- Upkg: Package manager and build system based onMono and XML specifications. Used bypaldo and formerly by ExTiX Linux;
- MacPorts formacOS;
- NetBSD'spkgsrc works on severalUnix-like operating systems, with regular binary packages formacOS and Linux provided by multiple independent vendors;
- Collective Knowledge is a cross-platform package and workflow framework withJSON API that can download binary packages or build them from sources forLinux,Windows,macOS, andAndroid platforms.[8]
Meta package managers
[edit]The following unify package management for several or allLinux and sometimesUnix variants. These, too, are based on the concept of a recipe file.
- AppImage (formerly klik and PortableLinuxApps) aims to provide an easy way to get software packages for most major distributions without the dependency problems so common in many other package formats.
- Autopackage uses
.package files. - PackageKit is a set of utilities and libraries for creating applications that can manage packages across multiple package managers using back-ends to call the correct program.
Game package managers
[edit]Package management systems geared toward developing and distributing video games.
- Steam: A cross-platform video game distribution, licensing and social gameplay platform, developed and maintained byValve. Used to shop for, download, install, update, uninstall and back up video games. Works on Windows NT, OS X and Linux
- Uplay: A cross-platform video game distribution, licensing and social gameplay platform, developed and maintained byUbisoft. Used to shop for, download, install and update video games. Works onWindows NT andWindows Phone, as well asPlayStation 3,PlayStation 4,Xbox 360,Xbox One,Wii U,iOS andAndroid.
- Xbox Live: A cross-platform video game distribution platform byMicrosoft. Works onWindows NT,Windows Phone andXbox. Initially calledGames for Windows – Live onWindows 7 and earlier. OnWindows 10, the distribution function is taken over byWindows Store
Proprietary software systems
[edit]A wide variety of package management systems are in common use today byproprietary software operating systems, handling the installation of both proprietary and free packages.
Application-level package managers
[edit]Meta server application-level package manager
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