Software Packaging

Speaker: Michael Leibowitz

Currently, it is fairly difficult for software developers to make binaries for their software easy to install for all Linux users. Without making specific packages for several different distributions, only a fraction of users will be reached. The multitude of packages also increases the number of bugs that a developer must address. If a software package needs configuration as part of its install, the problem is further compounded. I am developing a software packaging system that helps address these problems. This system will provide an easy way for developers to create one binary package that can by installed on the vast majority of Linux systems and provide a consistent install/remove/configure/upgrade user experience. It will address key gaps in current methodologies such as interoperation with the underlying distro's packaging system, cross-distro dependency resolution, and an integrated methodology for applications to provide update notification and upgrade.

Michael Leibowitz

Michael Leibowitz is a software engineer at the Intel Corporation. He has worked there for a year and a half where he as contributed to the OpenOffice.org project, mostly working on performance. Prior to that, he worked in the embedded systems field. There, he helped to enable internet connected systems with both Linux and bare-metal.