Unlock the Future of Package Management with IC Pack

IC Pack for Users

You don’t need to think about blockchain when using IC Pack. You just install blockchain apps like you would install apps in an Android. The difference is that the apps will be accessible to you through a browser. Due to blockchain magic, however, the resulting sites in your browser will be personally yours, as if they would be installed on your PC or phone (but they are not). This makes blockchain installations ideal for such tasks as financial (crypto) services. You can trust an app inside your browser installed with IC Pack (unless the dev of the app forged it, of course). Blockchain magic makes it possible for third-party review of apps. If your version of an app has been reviewed by a reputable auditor (a person who reads software code and confirms it has no security vulnerabilities), then you can trust this app for your money, your secrets, etc.

Moreover, all installed apps will be in the same “subnet” (“user’s subnet,” as we call it), which makes interoperation between these apps fast (like traditional Web apps installed on the same server).

The UI of the package manager is itself an IC Pack app, and therefore it runs in a browser. You enter the name of the package to be installed and install it. You also need to add some cycles (the cryptocurrency in which the cost of operating your apps is paid) to the system, it will be automatically spread between all your apps.

Of course, you can also upgrade or delete packages. In an awaited future version, there will also be dependencies between packages so that you will be able to install all needed package dependencies automatically.

IC Pack is installed either with the special installer (bootstrapper) of IC Pack [TODO] or customized bootstrappers (to be created by other software vendors) which will install IC Pack along with other software preinstalled.

IC Pack for Developers

IC Pack is a software that allows you to create “packages” with your ICP software that will be installed (copied) to a user. It allows usersovereignty over his/her apps, as long as faster interoperation between user software (based on not yet written standards). Usersovereignty means that you give the user solo right to upgrade your software (the user may consult a smart contract auditor before upgrading to ensure that you don’t ship malware).

You distribute your software for the user by putting it into a distro (like a Linux distro that you or somebody other can easily create with our distro creation tools) and also in the form of so-called bootstrapper: IC Pack bundled with your software, to start installation for users that don’t yet have IC Pack installed.

Distro creation tools for you will be shipped separately.