Technology
klik did not "install" software in the traditional sense (i.e., it did not put files all over the place in the system). It used one .cmg file per application. Each one is self-contained: it includes all libraries the application depends on and that are not part of the base system. In this regard, it is similar to "application virtualization" or Portable applications. One can klik a file even if they are not a superuser, or they are using a live CD.
klik integrated with web browsers on the user's computer. Users downloaded and installed software by typing a URL beginning with klik://. This downloaded a klik "recipe" file, which was used to generate the .cmg file. In this way, one recipe could be used to supply packages to a wide variety of platforms.
klik files were often simpler than compiling and installing an application, as no installation actually took place. The .cmg file is a compressed image which is temporarily mounted to allow access to the program, but not having to extract the program or modify the underlying system. Currently only 8 klik programs can be run at once because of the limitation of mounting compressed images with the Linux kernel, unless FUSE is used. The file is remounted each time the program is run, meaning the user can remove the program by simply deleting the .cmg file.
Read more about this topic: Klik (packaging Method)
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