<s>
Autopackage	B-Application
is	O
a	O
free	B-Application
computer	O
package	B-Application
management	I-Application
system	I-Application
aimed	O
at	O
making	O
it	O
simple	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
package	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
installed	O
on	O
all	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
,	O
created	O
by	O
Mike	B-Application
Hearn	I-Application
around	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
August	O
2010	O
,	O
Listaller	B-Application
and	O
Autopackage	B-Application
announced	O
that	O
the	O
projects	O
will	O
merge	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Projects	O
such	O
as	O
aMSN	B-Protocol
and	O
Inkscape	B-Application
offered	O
an	O
Autopackage	B-Application
installer	O
,	O
and	O
Freecode	O
offered	O
content	O
submitters	O
a	O
field	O
to	O
put	O
the	O
URL	O
of	O
Autopackages	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
list	O
of	O
available	O
packages	O
is	O
very	O
limited	O
,	O
and	O
most	O
program	O
versions	O
are	O
obsolete	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
most	O
recent	O
Autopackage	B-Application
of	O
GIMP	B-Application
is	O
2.2.6	O
,	O
even	O
though	O
GIMP	B-Application
is	O
now	O
at	O
version	O
2.8.2	O
,	O
as	O
of	O
August	O
2012	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Autopackage	B-Application
was	O
designed	O
for	O
installing	O
binary	O
,	O
or	O
pre-compiled	O
,	O
versions	O
of	O
non-core	O
applications	O
such	O
as	O
word	B-General_Concept
processors	I-General_Concept
,	O
web	B-Application
browsers	I-Application
,	O
and	O
personal	O
computer	O
games	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
core	O
libraries	B-Library
and	O
applications	O
such	O
as	O
operating	B-Operating_System
system	I-Operating_System
shells	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Concept	O
of	O
autopackage	B-Application
was	O
to	O
"	O
improve	O
"	O
Linux	B-Application
to	O
a	O
desktop	O
platform	B-Device
,	O
with	O
stable	O
binary	O
interfaces	O
comparable	O
to	O
Windows	O
and	O
MacOS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Autopackage	B-Application
is	O
not	O
intended	O
to	O
provide	O
installation	O
of	O
core	O
applications	O
and	O
libraries	B-Library
for	O
compatibility	O
reasons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
Autopackage	B-Application
to	O
distribute	O
non-core	O
libraries	B-Library
is	O
something	O
of	O
a	O
thorny	O
issue	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
one	O
hand	O
distributing	O
them	O
via	O
Autopackage	B-Application
allows	O
installation	O
on	O
a	O
greater	O
range	O
of	O
systems	O
,	O
on	O
the	O
other	O
hand	O
there	O
can	O
be	O
conflicts	O
with	O
native	O
package	O
dependencies	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Autopackage	B-Application
is	O
intended	O
as	O
a	O
complementary	O
system	O
to	O
a	O
distribution	O
's	O
usual	O
packaging	O
system	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
RPM	B-Application
and	O
deb	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
these	O
formats	O
,	O
Autopackage	B-Application
verifies	O
dependencies	B-Application
by	O
checking	O
for	O
the	O
presence	O
of	O
deployed	O
files	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
querying	O
a	O
database	O
of	O
installed	O
packages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
simplifies	O
the	O
design	O
requirements	O
for	O
autopackage	B-Application
by	O
relying	O
on	O
available	O
resources	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
necessitating	O
tracking	O
all	O
the	O
package	O
choices	O
of	O
all	O
targeted	O
distributions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programs	O
that	O
use	O
autopackage	B-Application
must	O
also	O
be	O
relocatable	O
,	O
meaning	O
they	O
must	O
be	O
installable	O
to	O
varying	O
directories	O
with	O
a	O
single	O
binary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
enables	O
an	O
autopackage	B-Application
to	O
be	O
installed	O
by	O
a	O
non-root	O
user	O
in	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
home	O
directory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Autopackage	B-Application
packages	O
are	O
indicated	O
by	O
the	O
.package	B-Application
extension	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
are	O
executable	O
bash	B-Operating_System
scripts	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
installed	O
by	O
running	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Files	O
in	O
an	O
Autopackage	B-Application
archive	O
are	O
not	O
easily	O
extracted	O
by	O
anything	O
other	O
than	O
Autopackage	B-Application
itself	O
as	O
the	O
internal	O
format	O
must	O
be	O
parsed	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
determine	O
file	O
layout	O
and	O
other	O
issues	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Autopackage	B-Application
programs	O
are	O
installed	O
to	O
hard-coded	O
system	O
paths	O
,	O
which	O
may	O
conflict	O
with	O
existing	O
packages	O
installed	O
by	O
other	O
means	O
,	O
thus	O
leading	O
to	O
corruption	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
can	O
usually	O
be	O
remedied	O
by	O
uninstalling	O
an	O
older	O
version	O
of	O
a	O
package	O
being	O
installed	O
with	O
Autopackage	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Autopackage	B-Application
files	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
installed	O
and	O
removed	O
using	O
the	O
Listaller	B-Application
toolset	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Listaller	B-Application
simply	O
includes	O
the	O
Autopackage	B-Application
packages	O
into	O
its	O
own	O
package	O
container	O
format	O
and	O
handles	O
Autopackage	B-Application
like	O
any	O
other	O
Listaller	B-Application
package	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
