Why some communities are not using 0install
This page collects feedback from projects that didn't use 0install.
Language-specific package managers
Most programming languages need a way to share libraries. Relying on native package managers doesn't work for the usual reasons (e.g. Windows doesn't have a package manager, developers like their packages to be up-to-date, developers don't like installing build dependencies as root, it should be possible to use a library without getting it added to every distribution's repository, etc).
Using a generic package manager brings a number of advantages:
- You can depend on things written in other languages (e.g, you can depend on the compiler, build tools and documentation formatters, not just on libraries in your own language).
- You can use the same technology to distribute the resulting programs after building them, if you want.
- You get access to robust code that already covers many cases you might not have considered (e.g. resolving complex dependency requirements, support for other platforms, checking digital signatures, etc).
- Users only have to learn one extra package manager, not one per language.
Since 0install is ideal for this kind of thing, we are collecting feedback from projects which have decided to build their own systems instead.
Some other links:
- Haskell (cabal) - email discussion
If you want to add something, please post to the mailing list.
