14 DAY TRIAL // Ubuntu devs have been working on Click packages for a while now and they are already available for the Ubuntu Touch platform. Now, it looks like the devs are preparing to bring them to the desktop as well.
The Click packages have worked wonders on Ubuntu Touch because this is an OS that's just being developed and it needs as many apps as possible for the official launch.
The implementation of Click packages has shortened the admission process into the Ubuntu Store for new apps considerably, and this is probably one of the most important aspects. These are also safer packages than regular ones because they can't really interact with the system and ruin it.
Linux users know about DEB, RPM, RUN, SH, or a number of other files and they all have a reason for being here. Ubuntu uses the DEB format because it's based on Debian, but now the devs want to allow developers to also package their apps for desktop flavor of the operating system by using this new type of packages. The main thing really making a difference is the absence of dependencies, which are always an issue.
Dependencies used to be a much bigger problem back in the day when you actually had to compile your apps and operating systems. One missing library could instantly make your day worse. The online repositories grew over the years and packages like DEB or RPM made things much easier. Now, Click packages have the potential to end this problem, at least for Ubuntu.
Click packages are the future
"The click format along with the ubuntu touch store fully support specifying one or more values for specific architecture support inside the application manifest file. Those values follow the same format as dpkg architecture names. Now in theory if a project containing compiled code lists the architectures to support, click build should be able to build one package for all."
"Click packages are one of the pieces of new technology that drives the next version of ubuntu on the phone and desktop. In a nutshell click packages allow for application developers to easily package and deliver application updates independent of the distribution release or archive," wrote Canonical's Nicholas Skaggs in an article explaining how developers should treat multi-arch builds, especially now that Unity 8 and Mir are getting more attention for the desktop flavor.
There is no precise time frame for the implementation of Click packages for Ubuntu systems, but like all things for this distro it will arrive slowly and in small steps. For now, Ubuntu with Unity 8 is not really usable, but work is being done to correct that.
