How qet works

qet works by maintaining a central manifest of packages you've installed. It reads a database of package definitions that map a single qet package name to multiple installation methods across different package managers.

When you ask qet to install a package, it:

1. Looks up the package in its definitions database.
2. Checks which package managers are available on your system.
3. Selects the best available method based on a configurable priority list.
4. Executes the appropriate command to install the package using the native manager.

This allows you to manage your applications and tools with a consistent set of commands (qet add, qet remove), regardless of how they are installed.

Usage Examples

Here are some examples of how to use qet:

Adding a Package

You can add a package using its canonical qet name. qet will automatically determine the best installation method.

# Install the 'htop' utility
qet add @utils/htop

This might translate to one of the following commands, depending on your system and configuration:

• On Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt-get install -y htop
• On Fedora/CentOS: sudo dnf install -y htop
• On Arch Linux: sudo pacman -S --noconfirm htop

Removing a Package

To remove a package, use the remove command with the same qet name.

qet remove @utils/htop

Specifying an Installation Method

If a package is available from multiple sources, you can manually specify which one to use with the --using flag.

# Install Visual Studio Code as a Snap package
qet add @microsoft/vscode --using snap

Syncing with a Qetfile

You can define a list of desired packages in a Qetfile and use the sync command to install all of them. This is useful for bootstrapping a new system.

Create a file named Qetfile with the following content:

# Qetfile

[[packages]]
qet_name = "@utils/htop"
method = "apt"

[[packages]]
qet_name = "@microsoft/vscode"
method = "snap"

[[packages]]
qet_name = "@node/nodejs"
method = "npm"

Then, run the sync command in the same directory:

qet sync

qet will analyze the Qetfile and install any missing packages.

Creating a Snapshot

You can generate a Qetfile from the packages you've already installed with qet. This is useful for saving your current setup.

qet snapshot > Qetfile

This will create a Qetfile in the current directory containing all your qet-managed packages.