4 ms·

Free Software Building and Packaging for Windows

49 points by T-A 11y ago

BoppreH 11y ago
If you are interested in this, also check out https://ninite.com https://ninite.com . Nowadays with adware-including installers and phony download links, any solution to the packaging problem in Windows is welcome.
m3Lith 11y ago
Also https://chocolatey.org/ https://chocolatey.org/ for software. Though they might not always have the latest versions.
toni 11y ago
There is also Npackd[1][2] with the ability to locally host your own repository[3]. [1] https://github.com/tim-lebedkov/npackd https://github.com/tim-lebedkov/npackd [2] https://npackd.appspot.com/ https://npackd.appspot.com/ [3] https://github.com/tim-lebedkov/npackd/wiki/RepositoryHosting https://github.com/tim-lebedkov/npackd/wiki/RepositoryHostin...
krapp 11y ago
Am I wrong in thinking that basically, the best package manager available for Windows is Steam?
- mappu 11y ago
  Steam is proprietary, closed-source, has a single for-profit vendor, uses closed communication protocols (e.g. for Friends) preventing an open reimplementation, and there's no automated way of submitting new packages. Not to mention the scandals where it read through your browser history. The download UI is nice, it does use plain http/s for package delivery, and it has a large install base. But i definitely do not think it is the best package manager available on Windows.
  - krapp 11y ago
    Faults aside, I think Steam's model is worth considering in terms of what features a package manager might need to succeed on Windows. Everything else posted here seems like it wants to replicate the Linux experience in Windows, and I suspect that would have limited appeal.
    - yo-code-sucks 11y ago
      In no way is steam a package manager, it has no concept of dependency trees.
  - insertnickname 11y ago
    https://github.com/dajoh/OpenSteamClient https://github.com/dajoh/OpenSteamClient
- kanetkarster 11y ago
  Chocolatey is pretty good
  - SOLAR_FIELDS 11y ago
    OneGet is supposedly also an option, last I heard it is essentially acting as a wrapper for Chocolatey and shipped in the W10 RTM. Since it is supported by MS that one might win out over all of the others eventually. See also the comments made here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topihttps://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/chocolatey/a8WdEoF-M58c/chocolatey/a8WdEoF-M58 https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topihttps://groups.google.... I'm still on W8 machine here so I have not had the chance to test whether it is buggy or not...
  - shoo 11y ago
    chocolatey seems fine if you are a package consumer, and never want to create/maintain your own packages. if you are in a business/organisation that also wants to use the same thing to manage your own in-house package dependencies -- it doesn't seem like such an appropriate solution.
    - teddyuk 11y ago
      Take a look at spoon.net, you can script creating / deploying images and it works pretty well.
mappu 11y ago
Saying 'runs on Cygwin' is a little obtuse when these packages are built with mingw-w64 to run on win32. The packages won't understand cygwin paths nor cygwin symlinks, and good luck linking to these libraries from a cygwin program. EDIT: Oh, i think the copy intended to mean 'can be cross-compiled from a cygwin environment'. Leaving comment for posterity.
something123 11y ago
So if say boost is updated - is it going to break by VS solution and I'm going to have to go manually update the version numbers in all my projects?

49 points by T-A 11y ago

If you are interested in this, also check out https://ninite.com https://ninite.com . Nowadays with adware-including installers and phony download links, any solution to the packaging problem in Windows is welcome.

m3Lith 11y ago

Also https://chocolatey.org/ https://chocolatey.org/ for software. Though they might not always have the latest versions.

toni 11y ago

There is also Npackd[1][2] with the ability to locally host your own repository[3]. [1] https://github.com/tim-lebedkov/npackd https://github.com/tim-lebedkov/npackd [2] https://npackd.appspot.com/ https://npackd.appspot.com/ [3] https://github.com/tim-lebedkov/npackd/wiki/RepositoryHosting https://github.com/tim-lebedkov/npackd/wiki/RepositoryHostin...

krapp 11y ago

Am I wrong in thinking that basically, the best package manager available for Windows is Steam?

mappu 11y ago
Steam is proprietary, closed-source, has a single for-profit vendor, uses closed communication protocols (e.g. for Friends) preventing an open reimplementation, and there's no automated way of submitting new packages. Not to mention the scandals where it read through your browser history. The download UI is nice, it does use plain http/s for package delivery, and it has a large install base. But i definitely do not think it is the best package manager available on Windows.
- krapp 11y ago
  Faults aside, I think Steam's model is worth considering in terms of what features a package manager might need to succeed on Windows. Everything else posted here seems like it wants to replicate the Linux experience in Windows, and I suspect that would have limited appeal.
  - yo-code-sucks 11y ago
    In no way is steam a package manager, it has no concept of dependency trees.
- insertnickname 11y ago
  https://github.com/dajoh/OpenSteamClient https://github.com/dajoh/OpenSteamClient
kanetkarster 11y ago
Chocolatey is pretty good
- SOLAR_FIELDS 11y ago
  OneGet is supposedly also an option, last I heard it is essentially acting as a wrapper for Chocolatey and shipped in the W10 RTM. Since it is supported by MS that one might win out over all of the others eventually. See also the comments made here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topihttps://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/chocolatey/a8WdEoF-M58c/chocolatey/a8WdEoF-M58 https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topihttps://groups.google.... I'm still on W8 machine here so I have not had the chance to test whether it is buggy or not...
- shoo 11y ago
  chocolatey seems fine if you are a package consumer, and never want to create/maintain your own packages. if you are in a business/organisation that also wants to use the same thing to manage your own in-house package dependencies -- it doesn't seem like such an appropriate solution.
  - teddyuk 11y ago
    Take a look at spoon.net, you can script creating / deploying images and it works pretty well.

mappu 11y ago

Saying 'runs on Cygwin' is a little obtuse when these packages are built with mingw-w64 to run on win32. The packages won't understand cygwin paths nor cygwin symlinks, and good luck linking to these libraries from a cygwin program. EDIT: Oh, i think the copy intended to mean 'can be cross-compiled from a cygwin environment'. Leaving comment for posterity.

something123 11y ago

So if say boost is updated - is it going to break by VS solution and I'm going to have to go manually update the version numbers in all my projects?