Chicory
Chicory is a supplemental software package management scheme for Unix and Unix-like systems. It works alongside the primary package manager of the system without interfering.
The first goal of Chicory is to require very little infrastructure. Many Chicory packages can with no additional support.
Chicory
Chicory is the key ingredient in a special blend, traditionally of coffee.
Chicory works well for just a single package, not necessarily a whole system. Nothing technically prevents someone from using it for a whole system, but Chicory works best when blended with other methods.
Chicory allows that packages can reside locally, remotely, or on removable media. It does not require that software packages be shrink-wrapped for delivery (e.g., RPM, MSI). It supports point-and-shoot.
To date, more than 100 open source packages have been built with Chicory and deployed on more than a dozen different systems (OS+HW combinations). See the current list of packages for the latest successful builds.
Features
With Chicory, we can …
- Deploy Instantly
- Leave the operating system pristine
- Install or upgrade (or downgrade) without disrupting users
- Have protected copies (R/O to each client, container, or virtual machine)
- Have less content to be backed up
- Install mixed releases if needed
- Recognize multi-platform storage savings (preemptive de-duplication)
- (conditionally) Install without admin privileges
Scripts
Historically, the only script was the setup script which might accompany
any single package. The script runs stand-alone without particular
dependencies beyond the environment found on most Unix systems. Similarly,
individual makefile wrappers for Chicory packages have no special
requirements or infrastructure dependencies.
Chicory's main goal is to require as little infrastructure as possible.
For years, Chicory was used with only the master prefix and a setup script.
One goal of this project is to deliver a set of scripts which facilitate simplified operation with Chicory: build, search, install, etc.