Bug#416162: ITP: zeroinstall-injector -- run programs by URL
Package: wnpp
Severity: wishlist
Owner: Thomas Leonard <talex5@gmail.com>
* Package name : zeroinstall-injector
Version : 0.26-1
Upstream Author : Thomas Leonard <talex5@gmail.com>
* URL : http://0install.net/
* License : LGPL
Programming Lang: Python
Description : run programs by URL
The Zero Install Injector makes it easy for users to install software
without needing root privileges. It takes the URL of a program and runs
it (downloading it first if necessary). Any dependencies of the program
are fetched in the same way. The user controls which version of the
program and its dependencies to use.
Zero Install is a decentralised installation system (there is no central
repository; all packages are identified by URLs), loosly-coupled (if
different programs require different versions of a library then both
versions are installed in parallel, without conflicts), and has an
emphasis on security (all package descriptions are GPG-signed, and
contain cryptographic hashes of the contents of each version). Each
version of each program is stored in its own sub-directory within the
Zero Install cache (nothing is installed to directories outside of the
cache, such as /usr/bin) and no code from the package is run during
install or uninstall. The system can automatically check for updates when
software is run.
Upstream has provided a Debian package for this program since May 2005
and would like it included in the main archive. The package is already
in Ubuntu (in "Universe").
For some recent articles about Zero Install, see:
"Zero Install: An executable critique of native package systems"
http://specialreports.linux.com/article.pl?sid=07/02/15/0724206&tid=138
"Decentralised Installation Systems"
http://www.osnews.com/story.php/16956/Decentralised-Installation-Systems
-- System Information:
Debian Release: 4.0
APT prefers unstable
APT policy: (990, 'unstable')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash
Kernel: Linux 2.6.18-3-vserver-686
Locale: LANG=en_GB.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_GB.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)
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