Soar is a Fast, Modern, Bloat-Free Distro-Independent Package Manager that Just Works
Supports Static Binaries, AppImages, and other Portable formats on any *Unix-based Distro
Tip
- Soar comes as a single-file, statically-linked executable with no dependencies that you can simply download & run.
- The install script does this & more automatically for you.
❯ cURL
curl -fsSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pkgforge/soar/main/install.sh" | sh
❯ wget
wget -qO- "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pkgforge/soar/main/install.sh" | shNote
- Please read & verify what's inside the script before running it
- The script is also available through https://soar.qaidvoid.dev/install.sh & https://soar.pkgforge.dev/install.sh
- Additionally, if you want to customize your installation, please read the docs @ https://soar.qaidvoid.dev/installation.html
- For, extra Guide & Information on infra backends & adding more repos: https://docs.pkgforge.dev
- Next, Check Configuration & Usage
Tip
- The comparison page @ https://docs.pkgforge.dev/soar/readme goes into more detail.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Universal Package Format Support | Soar can install and manage portable package formats including static binaries, self-extractable archives, and AppImages. |
| System Integration | Soar automatically integrates installed packages with your system to provide a native-like experience. |
| Flexible Repository System | While Soar comes preconfigured with official repositories, you can configure custom repositories that use any build format as long as they provide compatible metadata. The .SBUILD format is only required for the official repositories, not for custom ones. |
| Security First | Soar enforces security through checksums and signing verification for package installations. |
| Userspace | Soar works completely in Userspace without Superuser (admin/sudo) Privileges. |
| External Repository Support | Soar can access packages from sources like ivan-hc/AM and appimage.github.io through metadata provided by pkgforge. These external sources don't directly work with soar but are made compatible through pkgforge's metadata conversion. Note: Packages from external repositories are not verified. |
| Fast Package Operations | Soar provides efficient package searching, installation, and management with minimal overhead. |
Tip
Check out the detailed documentation @ https://docs.pkgforge.dev/repositories/soarpkgs
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Portable Packages | Packages are designed to be portable across distributions, either through static linking or by bundling all dependencies. This makes them distro-agnostic. |
| Extensive Collection | Official repositories host one of the largest collections of portable packages. Browse them with soar list or at pkgs.pkgforge.dev. |
| Prebuilt Binaries | 100% of official packages are provided as prebuilts, making installation limited only by download speed. |
| Quality Compilation | Around 80% of packages are compiled from source with optimizations for performance (LTO), security (ASLR/PIE), and size (MUSL). |
| High Security Standards | Official packages are built with SLSA Build L2 Security Guarantees. |
| Community Contributions | The .SBUILD format in pkgforge/soarpkgs allows community members to submit package definitions, similar to AUR. |
| Cross-Distro Compatibility | Some packages are repackaged from other distro repositories, allowing you to run applications from e.g., Arch repositories on Debian-based systems without containers. |
| Decentralized | The portable nature of packages means they can be downloaded and used independently of Soar if needed. |
Note
- If you have additional questions, check our FAQ or create a discussion.
| Design Decisions | The Rationale |
|---|---|
| Not Reinvent things | Soar isn't a package manager in the traditional sense, neither is it a new standard. Think of soar as an amalgamation & the natural progression of tools like AM, bin, eget, hysp, nami & zap. |
| Not a System Package Manager | Soar intentionally complements rather than replaces your distro's package manager. Unlike Homebrew, we don't handle core system tools/libraries — we let distro package managers excel at that job. Soar provides additional packages or newer versions while avoiding conflicts by operating entirely in userspace and following XDG specifications. |
| Not a Devtools Manager | Soar doesn't handle development toolchains by design. We do have completely static/relocatable toolchains in our repo, but it will always be better to just use dedicated tools like asdf, aqua, chsrc, mise, vfox etc. |
Warning
For reporting any issues related to packaging (Not Soar Core), please use our Official package repository at pkgforge/soarpkgs.
Soar is a FOSS project primarily maintained by @QaidVoid & a few other core contributors, who are all volunteers and do it as a hobby.
To save our time triaging & to ensure your issue/feature-request gets addressed quickly, make sure to:
- Search the Issues & Discussion tab (Both Closed/Opened) for same/similar issue in case it was already addressed.
- Open a Discussion instead of an issue if you have a question. Issues should be only created for bug reports and feature requests.
- Use our Issue Templates rather than a blank issue.
Note
- We assign a specific priority level (
p0-p3) for each valid issue created. - Based on the assigned priority level (
p0-p3) & our free time, we will do our best to respond/address it. - However, this is not a guarantee or an SLA. Please have patience & wait before tagging us again for a response. We thank you for your understanding.
We have a growing community on discord to discuss not only Soar/Pkgforge but also other cool projects, feel free to join & hangout anytime.
- Other Channels: https://docs.pkgforge.dev/contact/chat
Warning
While we welcome contributions of all kinds, please read CONTRIBUTING.md before submitting us a PR.
Please feel free to:
- Fork the repository
- Create your feature branch
- Submit a pull request
This project is licensed under MIT - see the LICENSE file for details.
v1.82.0