megastep/makeself
A self-extracting archiving tool for Unix systems, in 100% shell script. observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
72/100
- Activity 78
- Release rhythm 48
- Longevity 100
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-03. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: 36.5
- age_days: 6082
- days_rel: 266
- days_push: 135
- n_releases_24m: 3
Adoption not part of the score
2614 stars · 405 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded
Makeself is a 100% shell script tool that generates self-extracting compressed tar archives for Unix systems. The resulting .run files are executable shell scripts that extract themselves to a temporary directory and can run an embedded command such as an installation script.
Use cases
- create a self-extracting installer for linux software
- package a directory into a single .run file
- distribute software without requiring an archive extractor
- build an installer script with embedded files and checksums
- make a self-extracting archive that runs a setup script on unix
- package game patches or drivers as a single downloadable file
When to choose
- you need recipients to extract and install software with just a shell, no extra tools
- you target diverse Unix platforms (Linux, macOS, BSD, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX)
- you want integrity self-validation via CRC/MD5/SHA256 checksums
- you need optional GPG/OpenSSL encryption or signing of archives
When to avoid
- you need cross-platform archives for Windows without a Unix shell or Cygwin/WSL
- you need incremental updates, dependency resolution, or a full package manager
- your audience prefers standard package formats like deb, rpm, or AppImage
Facets
cli-tool · maturity stable
compression file-system cli developer-tools developer-tools files cross-platform bsd cli cross-platform self-extracting-archive shell-script tar installer-packaging posix command-line linux macos unix
3 sources
- readme: https://github.com/megastep/makeself · fetched 2026-08-28 · 7a2694de0c10
- homepage: https://makeself.io · fetched 2026-08-29 · ea1208dc1398
- site_page: https://makeself.io/changes · fetched 2026-08-29 · a01ad7840af7
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| megastep/makeself | main | 72 |
For agents
markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="megastep/makeself")
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem