kevinveenbirkenbachandClaude Opus 5.5
c2f0a56699
Every image build now carries <version> and the immutable <version>.<unix-ts>; latest goes to the newest release on main, each prefix (2, 2.3) to the newest release starting with it, and stable to the release the git tag stable marks, which "Mark stable commit" sets only after all tests passed. publish-containers.yml runs daily at 03:00 UTC and on workflow_dispatch. A rebuild publishes the newest release and, when the git tag stable sits on an older one, that release too, so both get base-image security updates. compute-publish-container-info.sh emits the release list with each release's moving tags; image.sh takes them as --aliases instead of --stable. A platform build whose installed package set equals the published <version> pushes nothing, and a merge whose image index equals the published one only moves the tags not yet on it, without a new stamp. Only vX.Y.Z tags count as releases; v2.4.0-rc1 no longer moves 2 or 2.4. The build scripts come from the release commit: releases tagged before this change keep the old scripts until a newer release replaces them. tests/integration: 22 tests for release choice, aliases, the stable rebuild, the push skip and the triggers. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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 images
One image per distribution, each installing PKGMGR as a distro-native package
on top of the matching base image from
base-images. Every image
is a manifest list covering linux/amd64 and linux/arm64.
All images live under ghcr.io/kevinveenbirkenbach/:
| Tag | Contains |
|---|---|
pkgmgr-<distro>:latest |
newest build of the newest release on main |
pkgmgr-<distro>:stable |
newest build of the release the git tag stable marks |
pkgmgr-<distro>:<major> |
newest build of the newest release of that major |
pkgmgr-<distro>:<major>.<minor> |
newest build of the newest release of that minor |
pkgmgr-<distro>:<version> |
newest build of that release |
pkgmgr-<distro>:<version>.<unix-ts> |
one build, never moves |
<distro> is one of arch, debian, ubuntu, fedora, centos. The Arch
image is published without the suffix as well, so pkgmgr:stable and
pkgmgr-arch:stable are the same image.
<version> is the PKGMGR release and <unix-ts> the build time, so
2.3.0.1767225600 is a full version an updater can order and pin. Every tag of
one build points at the same image.
stable moves only once "Mark stable commit" has moved the git tag stable,
which it does after every test of that release passed. Every day at 03:00 UTC,
after the daily 00:00 UTC build of base-images, and on demand through the
workflow's manual trigger, two releases are rebuilt on the newest base image:
- the newest
vX.Y.Zrelease onmain, movinglatest, its prefixes and<version>, and adding<version>.<unix-ts>; - the release the git tag
stablemarks, when that is an older one, movingstableand<version>, adding its own<version>.<unix-ts>, and moving a prefix only while it is still the newest release of that prefix.
With newest 2.4.0 and stable 2.3.0, 2.4.0 takes latest, 2 and 2.4,
and 2.3.0 takes stable and 2.3. A security update in base-images thereby
reaches whoever pinned a major, a minor, a release or follows stable.
Each release is compared with its own published <version>. A rebuild whose
installed packages equal it pushes nothing, since a new timestamp tag would make
every pin bump for no change; a tag of that release that does not show the
published build yet, such as stable right after "Mark stable commit", is moved
without a new timestamp.
A rebuild runs the build scripts of the release it rebuilds, not those of
main, so the skip and the tag rules above only hold for releases tagged after
this scheme landed. The scripts of an earlier release know no aliases: its merge
step fails and leaves its tags where they are, until a newer release replaces
it as the newest and the stable one.
For a clean environment that carries the system dependencies but no PKGMGR,
pull base-<distro> from
base-images directly.
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