[Cialug] Installing Packages

[Todd Walton]

When it comes to installing software, we know you have choices. That's why
we want to thank you for choosing:

  * dnf
  * flatpak
  * pipx
  * pip
  * cargo
  * binenv
  * Extensions

...that's a list of package managers I am actively using on my personal
laptop at this moment. If it wasn't dnf and flatpak it would be apt and
snap. pipx is a cool program that installs PyPI packages in their own
virtual environment, but available outside of that environment. It's cool.
It works differently than straight pip, which of course is also in use. And
then cargo for Rust packages. I have npm installed also but I don't have
any Node.js stuff at the moment. I try to avoid language-specific packages
when I can, with the exception of Python. binenv is a single binary that
installs and manages single-binary type programs (like starship, procs, yq,
glab, glow, so on). It sucks. I need to get rid of it. And I'm running
Gnome, which has its own set of package managers, including Extensions.

And as a special mention:

  * scripts, functions, aliases

Sometimes I write personal scripts, functions, or aliases that are so handy
in usage and clever in name that I forget that I wrote it myself. So when I
want to track it down for some reason I start looking through package
managers. If it's a function or alias, `which`ing it clears that up pretty
quickly, but I put my scripts in ~/.local/bin/ and so does pipx and some
manual installs, so just finding it there doesn't necessarily clue me in.

It's a mess.

--
Todd