Zero Install is a decentralized cross-platform software-installation system available under the LGPL. It allows software developers to publish programs directly from their own web-sites, while supporting features familiar from centralized distribution repositories such as shared libraries, automatic updates and digital signatures. It is intended to complement, rather than replace, the operating system’s package management. 0install packages never interfere with those provided by the distribution.
Zero Install also has some interesting features not often found in traditional package managers. For example, while it will share libraries whenever possible, it can always install multiple versions of a package in parallel when there are conflicting requirements. Installation is always side-effect-free (each package is unpacked to its own directory and will not touch shared directories), making it ideal for use with sandboxing technologies and virtualization.
The XML file describing the program’s requirements can also be included in a source-code repository, allowing full dependency handling for unreleased developer versions. For example, a user can clone a Git repository and build and test the program, automatically downloading newer versions of libraries where necessary, without interfering with the versions of those libraries installed by their distribution, which continue to be used for other software.
