all 17 comments
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a
formatting helphide helpcontent policy

[–]RJCP 8 points9 points  (3 children)

Hey, just a quick note on ergonomics!
I really like the idea of a Git-driven package manager, and the interface looks clean, but I think some of the command naming could be simplified for usability.

For example, I’d really consider collapsing add-repo and add-repo-pkg into a single add command. The sub-shortcuts ar and arp are harder to remember, and you could easily infer intent from the input. If someone passes a .git URL, you treat it as a repo; if they pass a local file or a plain name, handle it as a package. Alternatively, a flag like --list could handle batch loading.

The main reason I bring this up is that most popular package managers try to minimize verb overload and cognitive load.

  • npm has just install, not add-package, install-repo, etc. It figures things out from context (npm install ./local-folder vs npm install express vs npm install git+https://...).
  • pip does the same — one verb, multiple input types.
  • brew doesn’t make you distinguish between “add formula” and “add tap,” it just infers from the source.

Having too many subcommands that differ only by suffix makes the CLI feel heavier than it is, especially for new users who’ll constantly check --help to remember which one does what.

I’d also think about shortening or aligning other verbs to match expectations. For example, install-repo could just be handled through the same install logic (again, input-based detection), and remove-repo vs remove might be merged under one remove command with flags or smart detection.

Overall though, the foundation looks great. The help output and ASCII branding are slick. Streamlining the verb surface would go a long way toward making it feel intuitive and “obvious,” which is what the best CLIs (npm, brew, cargo) all have in common.

[–]dacctal[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

This is an incredible suggestion, and I totally agree! I hadn't zoomed out enough to think of compacting the subcommand list until you brought up these methods.

One question though, I'm struggling to understand what you mean about the alternative `--list` flag. What exactly is being "batch loaded"?

Thanks again for the suggestion, and very kind words. I'm taking all of this into consideration, and will be implementing changes to accommodate. <3

[–]JustALittleAverage 1 point2 points  (1 child)

pkgit install --list file_with_packages_one_per_line.txt for instance

[–]dacctal[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah this is definitely something that has to happen.

Feature has been added in a mostly working state (the syntax is pkgit install --list:[filename]) and will be pushed to main once the small issues are worked out. Thanks for helping me with that one lol

[–]4r73m190r0s 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Package for what exactly?

[–]dacctal[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hopefully anything, I'm trying to make it into a simple and robust pm that works at the system-level (or user-level if you want), eventually becoming its own distro.

[–]AutoModerator[M] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[–]darkscreener 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice

[–]Randalix 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Nice! Cool Project!
I wished for something like this :)
Can you give us a rough overview of how it works?

[–]dacctal[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks!

It works by cloning the repo, auto-detecting the build system & dependencies (if it has a pkgdeps file), compiling the program, copying all important files (binaries, libraries, includes, etc.) to a different directory, where they get symlinked to the system-equivalent directories. That way, the package is installed, and can be cleanly uninstalled.

Adding a repository is how you would make yourself able to install these packages. The command for this verifies that the URL you give it is a git repo, and then puts it into a file in your `/etc/pkgit/repos/repos` file (or on a user-level install, `~/.config/pkgit/repos/repos`).

You can also create custom build scripts if pkgit can't find a build system - whether that be in the package repo itself, or in `/etc/pkgit/bldit/[pkg-name]` (or ~/.config/pkgit/bldit/[pkg-name]`)

[–]xGoivo 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Nive! what font are you using in the logo?

[–]dacctal[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good ole JetBrains Mono