Encap Package Management System

The Encap package management system is an alternative to the standard Unix approach to installing local software in /usr/local/bin, /usr/local/man etc. Instead software is installed in /usr/local/encap, and running the epkg program creates symbolic links to the /usr/local/ directories. This gives better accountability for the software and more flexibility in upgrading software versions.

Usage

The program is first built via running e.g. in case of automake

./configure --prefix=/usr/local/encap/progname-x.y.z 
make 
make install

Then, running

mkencap progname-x.y.z
cd /usr/local/encap
tar -czf progname-x.y.z.tar.gz

will create a package which can be installed (on another machine as well) by running

epkg -i progname-x.y.z.tar.gz

Note that epkg is not intended to replace the package management, but rather to handle self-built applications in a more civilized fashion.

External links

• Official website