Guide into free package management systems

We try to list here the main Free Software package management systems.

The programs should natively compile/run on at least one distribution considered as Distributions enough free. The program should be Free Software and Open Source software (FOSS).

description

 * What is the system based on for manipulating packages? (deb, rpm, tgz)
 * Is the system mature or experimental?
 * What is the original free distribution that implemented this system?
 * What is the main distribution today using this system?

Source based

 * Gentoo Portage: (see http://www.gentoo-portage.com/ for example)
 * It installs from source, the components are named "ebuilds" and there are also "packages"
 * It is mature.
 * It was first implemented in Gentoo GNU/Linux
 * The main distribution today is Gentoo GNU/Linux

Binary also

 * Advanced Packaging Tool, APT
 * It is used with .deb packages.
 * It is mature.
 * It was first implemented in Debian GNU/Linux
 * The main distribution today is Debian GNU/Linux
 * APT4RPM (port of Advanced Packaging Tool to .rpm)
 * It is used with .rpm packages.
 * It is mature.
 * It was first implemented in Conecitva Linux (today Mandriva, old Mandrake)
 * The main distribution today is Mandrive Linux (old Mandrake)
 * URPMI
 * Used with .rpm packages
 * It is stable.
 * First implemented in Mandriva (old Mandrake)
 * Currently the only major distribution using urpmi is Mandriva.

Distribution independent

 * autopackage
 * Based on .package files
 * There is a 1.0, and the system is stable and working. Still work needs to be done.
 * Works with any Linux distribution, even without root password.
 * 0install Zero Install
 * It downloads applications directly from the internet the first time they are used, there is no package or file.
 * It is stable and full functional.
 * Works with any Linux distribution as long as you compile your kernel with a patch, even without root password if you have the kernel patch.
 * checkinstall
 * When make install is done, CheckInstall will create a Slackware, RPM or Debian compatible package and install it. You can call it (un)install from source.
 * Works with RPM-based, Deb-based, and Slackware distributions.