The Linyaps name: the 2024 brand announcement and project progress

Official announcement! The Linyaps project trademark has been officially renamed: Ruyi Linglong (Linyaps)

On July 13, at the deepin meetup Linyaps session in Shanghai, we officially announced the new brand name of the project - Ruyi Linglong (Linyaps) (hereinafter referred to as "Linyaps"). At the same time, we also shared the news that the project had completed the donation agreement signing with the OpenAtom Foundation on May 24, 2024. Linyaps has now become the foundation's Official Hatching Issue project.

Project background

In the development process of Linux open source software ecosystem, the construction of domestic software ecosystem has faced many challenges, among which software compatibility and security issues are particularly prominent. Packaging and distributing applications under different operating systems not only consumes a lot of time and resources, but also often causes compatibility issues due to upgrades, causing considerable trouble to software developers and users.

Breaking the game! Linyaps, a new independent package management toolset

The emergence of Linyaps undoubtedly provides new ideas for solving this problem.

The history of the Linyaps project can be traced back to 2017, when deepin's package management mechanism was reconstructed and transformed based on the Flatpak solution. In 2020, the project drew on the technical solution of sandbox/container and completed the core development of the Linyaps prototype. In 2022, with the release of deepin v23 preview version, Linyaps, as one of its core features, will initially become available.

Linyaps is essentially an independent package management tool set. With its isolation technology, it can completely decouple applications and systems, thereby completely solving compatibility issues caused by upgrades between systems and applications, and between applications and applications. It also reduces the number of packaging times when distributing under different operating systems, achieving "one architecture, one build" and providing a solid foundation for the development of the Linux ecosystem.

Latest progress of Linyaps project

At this meetup in Shanghai, Deng Bo, the technical leader of the Linyaps project, gave an in-depth introduction to the latest development status of Linyaps.

Technical architecture

At the meeting, Deng Bo introduced the technical framework of the Linyaps project in simple terms. It can be seen that compared with traditional package management systems, our biggest difference is that we support cross-releases, which means that we only need to build an architecture once to support all releases. The principle is that Linyaps provides a unified application running environment that is independent of the operating system based on User Namespace, CGroup and other mechanisms, which mainly includes libraries and dependencies commonly used by desktop applications such as Qt, and this running environment supports the coexistence of multiple versions.

Linyaps supports compatibility across hardware platforms and Linux distributions with its layered design philosophy. It provides a unified and stable runtime environment, simplifies application dependencies, and ensures compatibility and security through continuous updates. Linyaps optimizes resource usage through file sharing technology and allows multiple runtime versions to coexist. In addition, its major components as open source include Including virtualization containers, command line interfaces, package repositorys, operation management services, etc. ， Provide package management related capabilities 。 At the top level of the project framework, Linyaps also provides software developers with convenient package building tools and conversion tools, as well as an application store for software developers to distribute applications and for users to download and install applications.

Version progress

Currently, the main program version of ll-boxLinyaps has been iterated to 1.5.7. The important version features recently released include:

• Linyaps build tool supports building uab packages (currently only supported by deepin v23 and uos v20);
• Linyaps conversion tool supports converting uab packages;
• Linyaps build tool supports converting appimage to uab package;
• Linyaps supports uab offline operation;

Mainstream distribution version adaptation

Integrated into deep in V23, UOS 1071, openEuler system repository, can be directly installed and used in the system

has been adapted to openKylin, Kirin Professional Edition, Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 12. The upcoming 1.6 version will provide independent repositorys for each distribution, which can be added manually.

Application ecosystem progress

Since the development of the project, dozens of individual developers have joined in to contribute to the application ecosystem. At the same time, we continue to invite ecological partners to jointly promote the prosperity of the ecosystem. At present, we have successfully adapted more than 2,000 Linyaps applications. These applications will gradually be put on deepin, UnionTech App Store and Linyaps web store to provide users with richer choices and a more convenient experience.

Infrastructure

The new official website of Linyaps community is officially launched

Ruyi Linglong (Linyaps) Society The district is committed to promoting the open source and innovation of package management tool sets and providing a free and open communication platform for everyone. Full official website The following new content is online:

• Comprehensive Technical Documentation: Provides in-depth technical guidance and documentation
• Featured Solutions: A collection of best practices and solutions
• Latest News and Events: Get real-time updates and community event information
• Forum communication Platform : Provide a new platform for interactive communication
• Encourage participation Contributions: Code Contribution, ecological adaptation, community promotion, content contribution, etc.

Developer platform supports Linyaps application distribution

Currently, Linyaps applications are listed and distributed using the Unitrust Developer Platform. The platform not only supports the uploading and management of applications, but also provides developers with a complete set of technical documentation, including LinyapsLinyaps application building and debugging guides, so that developers can develop and optimize applications more efficiently.

Future Development

The future development of Linyaps focuses on the following key points:

• Support more distributions : Compatible with more mainstream Linux distributions, replacing the traditional deb package format
• Promote ecosystem development : Continuously optimize Linyaps package conversion and compilation tools, provide complete Linyaps learning tutorials and technical guidance documents, and develop more developers to join the conversion or development of Linyaps applications
• Fully open source and open: Linyaps source code, store, and technical documents are gradually open source, allowing open source enthusiasts to join in the project co-construction
• Application distribution mechanism: Build a cross-distro application distribution system to enable Linyaps applications to reach more Linux distribution users and reduce developers’ application maintenance costs

Finally, We sincerely invite every developer and user who is passionate about the Linux ecosystem to join us. Here, you will have the opportunity to participate in a vibrant community and jointly promote the progress and development of the Linux ecosystem.

Join us:

Scan the QR code to join the Linyaps community, Participate in Linyaps discussions and build an ecosystem together!

Project address: https://github.com/OpenAtomFoundation/linglong