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Package Manager 🤖📦
Kevin's Package Manager (PKGMGR) is a multi-distro package manager and workflow orchestrator. It helps you develop, package, release and manage projects across multiple Linux-based operating systems (Arch, Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS, …).
PKGMGR is implemented in Python and uses Nix (flakes) as a foundation for distribution-independent builds and tooling. On top of that it provides a rich CLI that proxies common developer tools (Git, Docker, Make, …) and glues them together into repeatable development workflows.
Why PKGMGR? 🧠
Traditional distro package managers like apt, pacman or dnf focus on a
single operating system. PKGMGR instead focuses on your repositories and
development lifecycle. It provides one configuration for all repositories,
one unified CLI to interact with them, and a Nix-based foundation that keeps
tooling reproducible across distributions.
Native package managers are still used where they make sense. PKGMGR coordinates the surrounding development, build and release workflows in a consistent way.
In addition, PKGMGR provides Docker images that can serve as a reproducible system baseline. These images bundle the complete PKGMGR toolchain and are designed to be reused as a stable execution environment across machines, pipelines and teams. This approach is specifically used within Infinito.Nexus to make complex systems distribution-independent while remaining fully reproducible.
Features 🚀
PKGMGR enables multi-distro development and packaging by managing multiple repositories from a single configuration file. It drives complete release pipelines across Linux distributions using Nix flakes, Python build metadata, native OS packages such as Arch, Debian and RPM formats, and additional ecosystem integrations like Ansible.
All functionality is exposed through a unified pkgmgr command-line interface
that works identically on every supported distribution. It combines repository
management, Git operations, Docker and Compose orchestration, as well as
versioning, release and changelog workflows. Many commands support a preview
mode, allowing you to inspect the underlying actions before they are executed.
Full development workflows
PKGMGR is not just a helper around Git commands. Combined with its release and versioning features it can drive end-to-end workflows:
- Clone and mirror repositories.
- Run tests and builds through
makeor Nix. - Bump versions, update changelogs and tags.
- Build distro-specific packages.
- Keep all mirrors and working copies in sync.
Architecture & Setup Map 🗺️
The following diagram gives a full overview of:
- PKGMGR’s package structure,
- the layered installers (OS, foundation, Python, Makefile),
- and the setup controller that decides which layer to use on a given system.
Diagram status: 12 December 2025
Always-up-to-date version: https://s.veen.world/pkgmgrmp
Installation ⚙️
PKGMGR can be installed using make.
The setup mode defines which runtime layers are prepared.
Download
git clone https://github.com/kevinveenbirkenbach/package-manager.git
cd package-manager
Dependency installation (optional)
System dependencies required before running any make commands are installed via:
scripts/installation/dependencies.sh
The script detects and normalizes the OS and installs the required system-level dependencies accordingly.
Install
git clone https://github.com/kevinveenbirkenbach/package-manager.git
cd package-manager
make install
Setup modes
| Command | Prepares | Use case |
|---|---|---|
| make setup | Python venv and Nix | Full development & CI |
| make setup-venv | Python venv only | Local user setup |
Full setup (venv + Nix)
make setup
Use this for CI, servers, containers and full development workflows.
Venv-only setup
make setup-venv
source ~/.venvs/pkgmgr/bin/activate
Use this if you want PKGMGR isolated without Nix integration.
Alles klar 🙂 Hier ist der RUN-Abschnitt ohne Gedankenstriche, klar nach Nix, Docker und venv getrennt:
Run PKGMGR 🧰
PKGMGR can be executed in different environments. All modes expose the same CLI and commands.
Run via Nix (no installation)
nix run github:kevinveenbirkenbach/package-manager#pkgmgr -- --help
Run via Docker 🐳
PKGMGR can be executed inside Docker containers for CI, testing and isolated workflows.
Container types
Two container types are available.
| Image type | Contains | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Virgin | Base OS + system dependencies | Clean test environments |
| Stable | PKGMGR + Nix (flakes enabled) | Ready-to-use workflows |
Example images:
- Virgin:
pkgmgr-arch-virgin - Stable:
ghcr.io/kevinveenbirkenbach/pkgmgr:stable
Use virgin images for isolated test runs, use the stable image for fast, reproducible execution.
Run examples
docker run --rm -it \
-v "$PWD":/src \
-w /src \
ghcr.io/kevinveenbirkenbach/pkgmgr:stable \
pkgmgr --help
Run via virtual environment (venv)
After activating the venv:
pkgmgr --help
This allows you to choose between zero install execution using Nix, fully prebuilt Docker environments or local isolated venv setups with identical command behavior.
License 📄
This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.
Author 👤
Kevin Veen-Birkenbach https://www.veen.world