tum (TheUnixManager) is a universal package management and system initialization library created by Archetypum, designed to simplify interactions with UNIX-like operating systems and streamline the development of system-related bash/shell scripts.
This is the Bash implementation of tum.
- Why?
- What does it solve?
- Use Cases
- Requirements
- Installation
- Documentation
- Supported Package Management Utilities (35)
- Supported Initialization Systems (7)
- Example Usage
- Legal
Because interacting with countless package managers and init systems across UNIX-like platforms is painful — tum fixes that.
With tum, you:
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Don't need to be a UNIX maniac who knows every package manager and init system syntax and arguments by heart;
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Don't waste time building utilities from scratch — core functions are prebuilt and ready;
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Don't write bloated, error-prone scripts — your code stays clean, readable, and portable.
Managing packages and system services is inconsistent across distros. Whether you're scripting for Arch, Debian, Void, Slackware, Red Hat, or others, tum provides a unified interface to abstract those differences.
It gives you:
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A standardized way to install, remove, purge, update, upgrade packages (any many more!);
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Unified service control (status, start, stop, enable, etc.) across multiple init systems (and many more);
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A modular approach to extend support for more tools and distros;
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Shell-friendly integration for faster development and cleaner scripts.
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Write portable installation scripts that “just work” on most UNIX-like systems;
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Build lightweight system provisioning tools in pure Bash;
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Create consistent automation for servers, containers, or virtual machines;
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Prototype cross-distro sysadmin tools without rewriting core logic.
tum executable consists of 1200 lines of pure bash (without empty lines and comments) that makes your code support thousands GNU/Linux, BSD, Minix, Haiku, Android, iOS and macOS distros. That makes tum a very small and lightweight dependency in your project.
Your users can install it in just three commands and forget about tum existence for forever, because their cross-platform scripts are working just like intended.
So why not give it a shot?
tum requires only one dependency - GNU Bash version >3.1+. You can install it on practically any UNIX-like operating system if you somehow don't have it installed already.
git clone https://github.com/Archetypum/tum-bash.git
cd tum-bash/
# You can use doas instead of sudo.
sudo make dependencies
sudo make installman tum- apt, apt-get, apt-cache, apt-cdrom, apt-config, apt-extracttemplates, apt-listchanges, apt-mark, apt-sortpkgs, aptitude, aptitude-create-state-bundle, aptitude-run-state-bundle, dpkg
- pacman, yay, trizen, pamac
- portage (open for pull requests)
- slackpkg
- apk
- xbps-install, xbps-remove, xbps-query
- guix
- qi
- pkg_add, pkg_delete, pkg_create, pkg_info
- pkg
- pkgin
- yum, dnf
- zypper, zypper-log
- homebrew
-
systemd
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sysvinit
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openrc
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runit
-
s6
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dinit
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launchd
#!/usr/bin/env bash
source /usr/bin/tum
distro=$(get_distro)
init=$(get_init)
init_comm=$(get_pid_comm 1)
pm=$(get_package_manager)
check_privileges # example: [*] Not running as root..
echo $distro # example: artix
echo $init # example: s6
echo $init_comm # example: s6-svscan
echo $pm # example: pacmantum-bash is free software, released under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.
See:
