Hi Slackers,
i'm happy to announce a new project called "SlackMan" (aka Slackware Package Manager). SlackMan is a wrapper of pkgtools (such as slackpkg, slapt-get, etc) that provides an easy-to-use interface for install, upgrade and monitoring new ChangeLogs and Security Fix from officials and third-party repository.

SlackMan features:

• Written in Perl (5.10) and compatible from Slackware 12.2 to latest (14.2 and -current)
• Multiple repository support (official and third-party)
• Use SQLite database to store all repository metadata (Packages, ChangeLogs, etc.) and speedup upgrade package calculation
• Support package dependency resolution (if the repository have this support)
• Bash completion support
• Is integrated with PolicyKit and D-Bus (via org.lotarproject.SlackMan interface)
• Include a desktop client that notify (via org.freedesktop.Notifications) package upgrade, ChangeLogs and Security Fix (see the attachments)

Actually support this repository:

• Official Slackware stable and -current
• SlackOnly (SlackBuilds.Org recompiled SlackBuilds)
• Slackers (Conraid)
• Slacky (Italian Slackware Community)
• AlienBob (plus restricted repository)
• Robby Workman
• ktown (KDE5)
• Cinnamon SlackBuilds
• MATE SlackBuilds
• Salix
• Microlinux

This is a few examples

This is a possible procedure to upgrade, install new packages and remove obsolete packages from Slackware repository:

Display a ChangeLogs:

Upgrade packages excluding kernel packages:

For more information about SlackMan see https://lotarproject.github.io/slackman/

I hope this is helpful,
Joseph

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It looks interesting. Package management is usually a hot topic around here, I am surprised there aren't more comments with 500 views.

2 members found this post helpful.

Meh.

4 members found this post helpful.

Lots of package managers for Slackware, including its own. Why the need to constantly reinvent the wheel? I would suspect this is why you see more views then comments.

1 members found this post helpful.

A little competition for slackpkg doesn't seem like a bad thing to me. Maybe this is better, maybe not.
Having said that, I don't use slackpkg either so this isn't for me, but kudos to it's author non the less.

I think the biggest issue you're going to have with adoption is all the extra perl modules required to run it. When you're coming with an alternative to an established tool you're going to have to get over people's inertia, and having them have to go and install several perl modules isn't going to help with that.

Best of luck with your project.

4 members found this post helpful.

I'm satisfied with slackpkg and sbopkg + queuefiles; but good luck, anyway.

1 members found this post helpful.

This tool is made with Perl.
It also requires some extra Perl modules to work.
The website tells me to either use sbopkg or look for them in slackbuilds.org (I could not find "http::tiny" and can't be bothered to install sbopkg) and some of them have dependencies as well.
It would help a lot if the packages required were available on the website.

1 members found this post helpful.

because obviously there is no solution that fits all needs and/or flavors, and if you are a developer and you are looking for some task to practice some development, it is a possible challenge / target if you sitting on a Slackware machine.
So it is not always just to create a tool, its often also a way for a developer to do some coding.
And who knows what interesting spin offs, often you will not see them because they will live an extra life, are coming out of such coding tasks

7 members found this post helpful.

Thanks for your interesting. I'm work to create a package (eg. slackman-perl-libs) with all required Perl modules for SlackMan for all supported Slackware release.

2 members found this post helpful.

If anyone is interested in a rebuild of SlackMan in a statically compiled language (Common Lisp, C/C++ or something) to work around the Perl module dependency thing, I'd willingly join.

3 members found this post helpful.

IMHO ... Package managers are at the mercy of the distribution it seems... until the linux community comes to an agreeable consensus, we are stuck with a lots of different ways to install packages. I dream of a day when a standard comes out of all of this...

No chance.

https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/standards.png

3 members found this post helpful.

Or until somebody forces a new package management system on everybody else, by making everything dependent on it? Like what's happening with a software called <self-censored>. Wait, I can already hear the grisly «Software Center» marketing buzzword threatening the community. NOOOOOOooooo....

I have always thought that what makes the Linux ecosystem really interesting is its inherent diversity, not the attempts to turn it into a monoculture.

3 members found this post helpful.

Just wondering: are these the same people who praise Slackware for its genuine and powerful albeit simple package management without automatic dependencies resolution and this notwithstanding reinvent a new package manager with automatic dependencies resolution every month?

Just curious...

Me, I am happy with slapt-get and gslapt on top of the Slackware tools

2 members found this post helpful.

no problems there, people could also contribute to current projects.