pkg8

pkg8 is a cross-platform package management tool designed to install, update, and manage software across diverse environments. It provides a unified interface for binary and source packages, using a declarative manifest to describe packages, dependencies, and build steps.

Origin and design: Emerging as an open-source project in the late 2010s, pkg8 aims to reduce fragmentation among development environments. It emphasizes reproducible builds, atomic upgrades, and isolation of build and runtime environments via sandboxing or containers.

Architecture and scope: The core consists of a package manifest, a central repository index, a content-addressable store for artifacts, and a dependency resolver that supports multiple backends. Repositories can be multi-channel and are signed for integrity.

Features: Dependency resolution with constraints, transactional upgrades, offline mode from cached artifacts, hooks for pre- and post-install actions, support for both binary and source packages, and a plugin system to extend backends or build steps.

Usage: The command set typically includes install, update, remove, search, init, and list. A typical workflow is to initialize a repo, fetch indexes, and install packages, with automatic resolution and rollback in case of failure.

Platform and implementation: Implemented in Rust, pkg8 targets Linux, macOS, and Windows, with a modular backend structure that allows alternative repositories and build systems to be plugged in.

Reception: pkg8 has seen adoption in certain development teams seeking reproducible environments. It is praised for predictable upgrades and rollback, but critics note a smaller package ecosystem and the overhead of maintaining multiple backends.

See also: apt, pacman, rpm, Nix, Spack, and other package managers.