What is Ryppl?

Think of Ryppl as a distributed cross-platform software management system designed to accommodate both end-users and developers. Ryppl unites version control, test management, package management, release management, reporting, and other sub-systems into a coherent and scalable software management system.

Unlike a traditional package manager, which only delivers binaries and/or a source snapshot, when ryppl downloads a package, it can give you a clone of a Git repository, with that package’s entire development history. If you’re an ordinary end-user, the fact that it’s a git repository may be invisible to you, but if you’re a developer, it means you’re already prepared to work on the package, keep track of your changes, and submit them to the official maintainer(s).

Ryppl includes facilities for building, testing, and installing packages on the local machine. However, it also has integrated support for remote testing. That is, you can arrange that tests be run on build slaves located “out there” on the internet. This allows developers to discover portability issues without having direct access to every build platform.

If you are looking for a high level overview of the goals of ryppl, check out this slideshow. Despite being quite old now, it still encapsulates many of the motivations behind creating this tool and the gaps – in collaborative development, software packaging and distribution – that it aims to plug.