TSI - The Source Installer

A distribution-independent source-based package manager that enables building packages from source with all their dependencies.

Written in Rust — single static binary, zero runtime dependencies.

Features

• Cross-Platform: Works on macOS, Linux, and Windows
• Distribution Independent: Works on any Linux/Unix distribution
• Source-Based: Builds everything from source code
• Built-in HTTP & Archives: No system curl, wget, or tar required — downloads and extracts via pure Rust
• Dependency Resolution: Automatically resolves and builds dependencies
• Multiple Build Systems: Supports autotools, CMake, Meson, Make, and custom commands
• Minimal Requirements: Single binary; only a C compiler and make needed for building packages
• Isolated Installation: Installs packages to a separate prefix, avoiding conflicts
• Homebrew-Style CLI: Clean, intuitive command-line interface

Installation

Quick Install

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/tsi/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh

Add to PATH:

export PATH="$HOME/.tsi/bin:$PATH"

Or add permanently:

echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.tsi/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Custom Installation Location

You can install TSI to a custom location using the --prefix option or PREFIX environment variable:

Using --prefix option:

# Install to /opt/tsi (system-wide, may require root)
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/tsi/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh -s -- --prefix /opt/tsi

# Install to custom user location
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/tsi/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh -s -- --prefix ~/my-tsi

Using PREFIX environment variable:

# Install to /opt/tsi (system-wide, may require root)
PREFIX=/opt/tsi curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/tsi/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh

# Install to custom user location
PREFIX=~/my-tsi curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/tsi/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh

Note: Installing to system directories like /opt/, /usr/local/, or /usr/ typically requires root permissions. Use sudo if needed:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/tsi/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sudo sh -s -- --prefix /opt/tsi

After installation, add the custom location to your PATH:

# For /opt/tsi
export PATH="/opt/tsi/bin:$PATH"

# Or add permanently to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
echo 'export PATH="/opt/tsi/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc

Bootstrap Options

The bootstrap installer supports several command-line options and environment variables:

Command-line options:

• --prefix PATH - Installation prefix (default: ~/.tsi on Unix, %USERPROFILE%\.tsi on Windows)
• --repair - Repair/update existing TSI installation
• --help, -h - Show help message

Environment variables (recommended - cleaner syntax, no '--' needed):

• PREFIX - Installation prefix (same as --prefix option)
• REPAIR - Set to 1, true, or yes to repair/update existing installation (same as --repair flag)
• TSI_REPO - Custom repository URL (default: https://github.com/PanterSoft/tsi.git)
• TSI_BRANCH - Branch to use from repository (default: main)
• INSTALL_DIR - Temporary directory for downloading and building source (default: $HOME/tsi-install)

Examples:

# Install to user location (~/.tsi) - using environment variable (recommended, no '--' needed)
PREFIX=~/.tsi curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/tsi/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh

# Repair existing installation - using environment variable (recommended, no '--' needed)
REPAIR=1 curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/tsi/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh

# Or use command-line arguments
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/tsi/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh -s -- --prefix ~/.tsi
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/tsi/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh -s -- --repair

# Install from a fork or different branch
TSI_REPO=https://github.com/user/fork.git TSI_BRANCH=develop \
  curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/tsi/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh

Manual Build (from source)

Requires Rust toolchain:

git clone https://github.com/PanterSoft/tsi.git
cd tsi
cargo build --release

The binary will be at target/release/tsi. To install:

# Unix
cp target/release/tsi ~/.tsi/bin/tsi

# Or use make install (with PREFIX set)
make install PREFIX=~/.tsi

Quick Start

# Update package definitions (run once after install)
tsi update

# Install a package
tsi install curl

# Install specific version
tsi install git@2.45.0

# List installed packages
tsi list

# Show package information
tsi info curl

# Search available packages
tsi search ssl

# Upgrade installed packages
tsi upgrade

# Check system health
tsi doctor

# Remove a package
tsi uninstall curl

Requirements

To run TSI: None — the binary is self-contained.

To build TSI from source: Rust toolchain (rustc, cargo).

To build packages with TSI:

• macOS: Xcode Command Line Tools (clang, make)
• Linux: gcc (or clang) and make
• Windows: Visual Studio Build Tools or MinGW

TSI uses built-in HTTP and archive extraction — no system curl, wget, or tar required for downloads.

Documentation

Complete documentation is available at https://pantersoft.github.io/TheSourceInstaller/.

• Installation Guide
• User Guide
• Package Format
• Developer Guide

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues or pull requests.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.