PackageKit

Not to be confused with PackageKit.framework, a macOS component.
PackageKit
Original author(s)Richard Hughes
Initial release2007; 17 years ago (2007)
Stable release
1.3.0[1] / 16 June 2024; 4 months ago (16 June 2024)
Repository
Written inC, C++, Python
Operating systemLinux
TypePackage management system
LicenseGNU General Public License
Websitewww.freedesktop.org/software/PackageKit/

PackageKit is a free and open-source suite of software applications designed to provide a consistent and high-level abstraction layer for a number of different package management systems. PackageKit was created by Richard Hughes in 2007,[2][3] and first introduced into an operating system as a default application in May 2008 with the release of Fedora 9.[4]

The suite is cross-platform, though it is primarily targeted at Linux distributions which follow the interoperability standards set out by the freedesktop.org group. It uses the software libraries provided by the D-Bus and Polkit projects to handle inter-process communication and privilege negotiation respectively.

PackageKit seeks to introduce automatic updates without having to authenticate as root, fast-user-switching, warnings translated into the correct locale, common upstream GNOME and KDE tools and one software over multiple Linux distributions.[5]

Although PackageKit is still maintained, no major features have been developed since around 2014, and the package's maintainer suggested that it could be replaced by plugins for other tools, such as Flatpak and Snap as they become more popular. However, a D-Bus interface would still be needed to support managing packages on mutable file systems.[6]

  1. ^ "Release 1.3.0". 16 June 2024. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Installing and Updating Software Blows Goats". Richard Hughes. 27 July 2007. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  3. ^ "Richard Hughes' blog posts about PackageKit". Richard Hughes. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  4. ^ "Releases/9/FeatureList". Fedora Project Wiki. Fedora Project. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Introduction to PackageKit, a Package Abstraction Framework" (PDF). Richard Hughes. 2008-02-24. Retrieved 2014-04-11.
  6. ^ "PackageKit is dead, long live, well, something else". Richard Hughes. 2019-02-15. Retrieved 2019-06-18.