moree

more explicit package management

Proposal

Tired of forgetting why you installed certain packages? moree helps you explicitly manage your package installations by recording the reasons behind them. This brings clarity to your system's software and reduces future decision fatigue when reviewing or updating your packages. Take control of your package management and understand the "why" behind every install.

Motivation

• Gain a clear understanding of the purpose of each installed package.
• Simplify future package reviews and updates by having readily available installation reasons.
• Distinguish between explicitly installed packages and dependencies.
• Easily maintain and clean up your system by identifying and removing unnecessary software.

Recommendation

Set an alias as moe if you don't have another moe command.

# .zshrc
alias moe="moree"

Usage

moe [command] [flags]

Running moe without a command will display the help.

Commands

• add [packages...]

  • With packages: Interactively confirms the explicit installation status of the specified, already installed package(s). If a package isn't installed, an error is displayed.
  • Without packages: Interactively reviews all installed packages on your system, prompting you to mark them as explicitly installed or dependencies. Includes a "Quit" option to stop the process and optionally save changes.

• apply Reinstalls packages based on the installation reasons managed by moree.

  • --with-install: Installs packages marked as explicitly installed by moree that aren't currently on your system.
  • --with-uninstall: Uninstalls packages present on your system but not marked as explicitly installed by moree.
  • --sync: A shorthand for --with-install --with-uninstall, synchronizing your system with the moree state.

• unmanaged Lists packages installed on your system that aren't managed by moree.

• diff [--all]

  • Compares the moree managed state with your currently installed packages (explicitly and as dependencies), highlighting discrepancies with '+' and '-'.
  • --all: Extends the diff to show packages managed by moree but not installed, and unmanaged packages installed explicitly. Note: Unmanaged dependencies are not shown.

• query Retrieves package information.

  • --explicit or -e: Lists all explicitly installed packages managed by moree.
  • --deps or -d: Lists all packages marked as dependencies by moree.
  • --information or -i: Prints detailed information (explicit status, memo) for all managed packages. -e and -d flags can be combined with this flag.

• edit <package> Interactively edits the explicit status and memo for the specified package.

Flags

• --data <path> Specifies the path to the moree state file. Defaults to $XDG_DATA_HOME/moree/state.json.

Use Cases

Basic Package Management

moe add        # Review and categorize installed packages.
moe apply      # Reinstall packages according to their explicit status.

Querying Package Information

moe query -e > .config/tenzyu/packages#arch  # Save a list of explicitly installed packages to a file.

Reviewing Installation Reasons (Example)

moe query -i # Review detailed information about all managed packages, including installation reasons.

Thank you for discovering this somewhat hidden repository! If you find moree useful or interesting, please consider starring it. Your support motivates further development.