Package format
A package format is a type of archive containing computer programs and additional metadata needed by package managers.[1] While the archive file format itself may be unchanged, package formats bear additional metadata, such as a manifest file or certain directory layouts. Packages may contain either source code or executable files.
Packages may be converted from one type to another with software such as Alien.
Common formats
Specialized formats
| Format | Consumed by |
|---|---|
| AAB | Android |
| AIR | Adobe AIR |
| APK (Alpine) | Alpine Linux[2] |
| APK (Android) | Android |
| AppImage | Linux distribution-agnostic. |
| APPX and APPXBundle | Windows 8 and later, Windows Phone[3] |
| Bottle | Homebrew |
| Deb | Debian and its derivatives, such as Ubuntu, Xubuntu, and Linux Mint[4] |
| ebuild | Gentoo Linux[5] |
| eopkg | Solus[6] |
| Flatpak | Linux distribution-agnostic. |
| .app, .hap | HarmonyOS, OpenHarmony and GNU Linux based Unity Operating System |
| PISI | Pardus |
| PKG | macOS, iOS, PlayStation 3, Solaris, SunOS, UNIX System V, Symbian, BeOS, Apple Newton |
| .pkg.tar.zst | Arch Linux |
| PUP and PET | Puppy Linux (PUP format is deprecated since version 3.0) |
| RPM | Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Fedora, derivatives such as CentOS,[7] and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, openSUSE |
| Snap | Linux distribution-agnostic, mainly developed for Ubuntu |
| Windows Installer package / MSI | Windows Installer on Microsoft Windows |
Generic formats
Arch Linux's Pacman[8] and Slackware[9] use Tar archives with generic naming but specific internal structures.
References
- ^ Justin Angelo Cappos, Stork: Secure Package Management for VM Environments[permanent dead link], ProQuest, 2008, p. 128 ;
- ^ "Alpine package format - Alpine Linux". wiki.alpinelinux.org. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
- ^ "App packaging". Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- ^ "InstallingSoftware - Community Ubuntu Documentation". Help.ubuntu.com. Retrieved April 24, 2013.
- ^ "ebuild". Retrieved July 29, 2015.
- ^ "Basics to Package Management". Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- ^ "rpm - Trac". Retrieved September 29, 2014.
- ^ "makepkg.conf(5) Manual Page".
- ^ "The Slackware Linux Project: Configuration Help". Retrieved September 29, 2014.
| Archiving only | |
|---|---|
| Compression only | |
| Archiving and compression | |
| Software packaging and distribution | |
| Document packaging and distribution | |
| dpkg | |
|---|---|
| RPM | |
| Embedded systems | |
| Distribution-agnostic | |
| Others (binary) | |
| Others (source) | |
| Front-ends | |
| Related topics | |
| |
| Linux kernel | |
|---|---|
| Controversies | |
| Distributions | |
| Organizations | |
| Adoption | |
| Media | |
| Professional related certifications | |
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