 |
|
 gnome-packagekit, a front-end for PackageKit, running on Fedora |
|
| Developed by | Richard Hughes |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 0.4 (09 December 2008) [+/−] |
| Written in | C, C++, Python |
| OS | Linux |
| Development status | Active |
| Type | Package management system |
| License | GNU General Public License |
| Website | http://www.packagekit.org/ |
PackageKit is a suite of software applications designed to provide a consistent and high-level front end for a number of different package management systems. PackageKit was created by Richard Hughes.
The suite is ostensibly cross-platform, though it is primarily targeted at Linux distributions which follow the interoperability standards set out by the freedesktop.org group. It uses the software libraries provided by the D-Bus and PolicyKit projects to handle inter-process communication and computer privilege negotiation.
Released under the terms of the GNU General Public License, PackageKit is free software.
Contents |
History
PackageKit was created by Richard Hughes and first proposed in a series of blog posts in 2007, and is now developed by a small team of developers. Fedora 9 is the first operating system to use it as default front end for yum. It has undergone many updates in the new Fedora 10.
Design
PackageKit itself is a system activated daemon called packagekitd, that abstracts out differences between the different systems. A library called libpackagekit also allows other programs to trivially interact with PackageKit.[1]
Features include:
- Installing local files, ServicePack media and from remote sources.
- Authentication using PolicyKit
- Does not replace existing packaging tools
- Multi-user system aware – will not allow shutdown in critical parts of the transaction
- A system activated daemon so exits when not in use
Backends
A number of different package management systems (known as backends) support different abstract methods and signals that are used by the front-end tools.[2] Backends supported include Advanced Packaging Tool, alpm, box, Conary, opkg, PiSi, poldek, Smart Package Manager, Yellow dog Updater, Modified and zypp.
Frontends
There are already three collection of software application front ends for PackageKit:
- console to be used without graphical environment.
- gnome-packagekit to be used in the GNOME desktop.
- kpackagekit to be used in the KDE desktop.
See also
References
- ^ "PackageKit Reference Manual". packagekit.org. Retrieved on 2008-03-25.
- ^ "Frequently asked questions". packagekit.org. Retrieved on 2008-03-25.
 |
This free software-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
No comments have been added.
