<s>
cdist	B-Application
is	O
a	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
configuration	O
management	O
tool	O
for	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bourne	B-Device
Shell	I-Device
,	O
and	O
does	O
not	O
require	O
any	O
additional	O
software	O
to	O
be	O
installed	O
on	O
target	O
nodes	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cdist	B-Application
differentiates	O
itself	O
from	O
competing	O
configuration	O
management	O
systems	O
by	O
choosing	O
the	B-Device
Bourne	I-Device
Shell	I-Device
as	O
the	O
primary	O
language	O
for	O
writing	O
configuration	O
scripts	O
and	O
requiring	O
effectively	O
no	O
dependencies	O
on	O
target	O
nodes	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
cdist	B-Application
's	O
core	O
is	O
written	O
in	O
Python	B-Language
,	O
an	O
interpreter	O
is	O
only	O
required	O
on	O
the	O
host	O
machine	O
,	O
not	O
target	O
nodes	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cdist	B-Application
was	O
forked	B-Application
in	O
August	O
2022	O
as	O
skonfig	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
cdist	B-Application
is	O
being	O
used	O
at	O
various	O
companies	O
in	O
Switzerland	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
ETH	O
Zurich	O
and	O
The	O
OMA	O
Browser	O
project	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
US	O
,	O
Germany	O
and	O
France	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
cdist	B-Application
is	O
a	O
zero	O
dependency	O
configuration	O
management	O
system	O
:	O
It	O
requires	O
only	O
ssh	B-Protocol
and	O
a	O
bourne-compatible	O
shell	O
on	O
target	O
hosts	O
,	O
which	O
are	O
provided	O
by	O
default	O
on	O
most	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
of	O
this	O
,	O
cdist	B-Application
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
bootstrap	O
other	O
configuration	O
management	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
cdist	B-Application
is	O
not	O
typically	O
installed	O
as	O
a	O
package	O
(	O
like	O
.deb	O
or	O
.rpm	O
)	O
,	O
but	O
rather	O
via	O
git	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
entry	B-Language
point	I-Language
for	O
any	O
configuration	O
is	O
the	O
shell	O
script	O
conf/manifest/init	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
called	O
initial	O
manifest	O
in	O
cdist	B-Application
terms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
main	O
components	O
of	O
cdist	B-Application
are	O
so	O
called	O
types	O
,	O
which	O
bundle	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
cdist	B-Application
is	O
split	O
into	O
two	O
components	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Cdist	B-Application
's	O
core	O
handles	O
reading	O
configuration	O
and	O
communicating	O
with	O
remote	O
hosts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
Ansible	B-Language
,	O
cdist	B-Application
uses	O
a	O
"	O
push	O
"	O
model	O
to	O
apply	O
configuration	O
changes	O
:	O
A	O
cdist	B-Application
process	O
on	O
the	O
"	O
host	O
"	O
machine	O
connects	O
to	O
any	O
number	O
of	O
remote	O
nodes	B-Protocol
via	O
SSH	B-Protocol
and	O
then	O
performs	O
configuration	O
updates	O
on	O
those	O
nodes	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cdist	B-Application
can	O
configure	O
multiple	O
hosts	O
in	O
parallel	O
to	O
reduce	O
the	O
time	O
spent	O
configuring	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
initial	O
manifest	O
,	O
an	O
entry	B-Language
point	I-Language
where	O
all	O
configuration	O
runs	O
begin	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ansible	B-Language
's	O
"	O
roles	O
"	O
are	O
the	O
equivalent	O
of	O
cdist	B-Application
's	O
types	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gencode	O
Scripts	O
:	O
The	O
gencode-remote	O
script	O
is	O
the	O
main	O
way	O
to	O
actually	O
update	O
the	O
configuration	O
of	O
target	O
nodes	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shell	O
is	O
the	O
de	O
facto	O
language	O
for	O
writing	O
cdist	B-Application
configuration	O
scripts	O
,	O
but	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
scripts	O
can	O
be	O
written	O
in	O
any	O
language	O
if	O
they	O
contain	O
a	O
suitable	O
shebang	B-Operating_System
line	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ansible	B-Language
,	O
like	O
cdist	B-Application
,	O
uses	O
an	O
agentless	O
push	O
model	O
to	O
configure	O
nodes	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
Ansible	B-Language
requires	O
Python	B-Language
for	O
some	O
types	O
of	O
targets	O
,	O
whereas	O
cdist	B-Application
does	O
not	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ansible	B-Language
makes	O
a	O
distinction	O
between	O
roles	O
,	O
written	O
in	O
a	O
declarative	O
YAML-based	O
language	O
,	O
and	O
modules	O
,	O
written	O
in	O
Python	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cdist	B-Application
only	O
has	O
"	O
types	O
"	O
which	O
serve	O
the	O
purposes	O
of	O
both	O
modules	O
and	O
roles	O
and	O
are	O
mostly	O
written	O
in	O
Bourne	B-Device
Shell	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cdist	B-Application
's	O
approach	O
might	O
be	O
preferable	O
because	O
Shell	O
is	O
familiar	O
to	O
many	O
system	O
administrators	O
who	O
have	O
never	O
used	O
a	O
configuration	O
management	O
system	O
before	O
,	O
but	O
Ansible	B-Language
's	O
declarative	O
language	O
is	O
arguably	O
more	O
readable	O
and	O
appropriate	O
.	O
</s>
