Terminology
A package management system is often called an "install manager". This can lead to confusion between a package management system and an installer. The differences include:
| Package management system | Installer |
|---|---|
| Usually part of an operating system. | Each product comes bundled with its own installer. |
| Uses one installation database. | Performs its own installation, sometimes recording information about that installation in a registry. |
| Can verify and manage all packages on the system. | Works only with its bundled product. |
| One package management system vendor. | Multiple installer vendors. |
| One package format. | Multiple installation formats. |
A package, for package managers, denotes a specific set of files bundled with the appropriate metadata for use by a package manager. This can be confusing, as some programming languages often use the word "package" as a specific form of software library. Furthermore, that software library can be distributed in a package of files bundled for a package manager.
Read more about this topic: Package Management System