Zero Install

Copyright Thomas Leonard, 2010


INTRODUCTION

The 0launch command can be used to run a program, by giving it the program's
full name (a web address or "URL"). It does not need to be installed or run as
root. It does not write to any shared directories (like /usr/bin or /usr/lib).
It stores downloads in a cache directory so that you don't need to download
anything twice, and programs can still be used when you are off-line.

A complete program is made up of many different components, typically written
by different groups of people. Each component is available in multiple
versions. 0launch is used when starting a program. Its job is to decide
which implementation of each required component to use.

An interface describes what a component does. Zero Install starts with the
interface for the program you want to run (like 'The Gimp') and chooses an
implementation (like 'The Gimp 2.2.0'). However, this implementation will in
turn depend on other interfaces, such as 'GTK' (which draws the menus and
buttons). Thus, Zero Install must choose implementations of each dependancy
(each of which may require further interfaces, and so on).

See http://0install.net/injector.html for details.


INSTALLATION

Zero Install uses the normal Python distutils method of installation. To
install system-wide, run setup.py like this:

  $ sudo python setup.py install

You can also install just to your home directory (this doesn't require root
access):

  $ python setup.py install --home ~ --install-data ~/.local
  $ export PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH

Logging out and back in again will ensure $PATH and the Applications menu get
updated correctly, on Ubuntu at least.


USE

To run a program by its URI:

  $ 0launch http://rox.sourceforge.net/2005/interfaces/Edit

To create a short-cut:

  $ 0alias rox-edit http://rox.sourceforge.net/2005/interfaces/Edit

For more information, see the man-pages for 0launch, 0alias and 0store.


CONDITIONS

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
Lesser General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307  USA


BUG REPORTS

Please report any bugs to the mailing list:

  http://0install.net/support.html