A. Related Systems

I will try to outline interesting points in a variety of systems that we can learn from. These systems may be intended for building or installing packages, or repositories for packages. I am not deeply familiar with all of the tools here, and would be interested in hearing more relevant points from someone with more knowledge. Another weakness of mine is that I don't know much about Microsoft Windows, so some good examples for Windows systems would be helpful.

A.1. Debian

The Debian GNU/Linux system is a good example of a binary distribution (meaning that packages are distributed in binary, as opposed to source code form), and its packaging system (dpkg) is somewhat similar to the more famous RPM. Debian has several other tools to help the user to install packages, most notably, apt. The Debian toolset is interesting for several reasons: