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1 Zero Install is a decentralised cross-distribution software installation system
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2 available under the LGPL. It allows software developers to publish programs
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3 directly from their own web-sites, while supporting features familiar from
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4 centralised distribution repositories such as shared libraries, automatic
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5 updates and digital signatures. It is intended to complement, rather than
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6 replace, the operating system's package management. 0install packages never
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7 interfere with those provided by the distribution.
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8
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9 0install does not define a new packaging format; unmodified tarballs or zip
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10 archives can be used. Instead, it defines an XML metadata format to describe
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11 these packages and the dependencies between them. A single metadata file can be
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12 used on multiple platforms (e.g. Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, Mac OS X and
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13 Windows), assuming binary or source archives are available that work on those
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14 systems.
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15
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16 0install also has some interesting features not often found in traditional
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17 package managers. For example, while it will share libraries whenever possible,
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18 it can always install multiple versions of a package in parallel when there are
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19 conflicting requirements. Installation is always side-effect-free (each package
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20 is unpacked to its own directory and will not touch shared directories such as
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21 /usr/bin), making it ideal for use with sandboxing technologies and
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22 virtualisation.
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23
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24 The XML file describing the program's requirements can also be included in a
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25 source-code repository, allowing full dependency handling for unreleased
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26 developer versions. For example, a user can clone a Git repository and build
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27 and test the program, automatically downloading newer versions of libraries
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28 where necessary, without interfering with the versions of those libraries
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29 installed by their distribution, which continue to be used for other software.
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30
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31 See [the 0install.net web-site](http://0install.net/) for full details.
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