# aspiers/stow

GNU Stow - mirror of savannah git repository occasionally with more bleeding-edge branches

Repository: https://github.com/aspiers/stow
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/stow
Homepage: http://www.gnu.org/s/stow/
Language: Perl
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: symlink, package-manager, packages, cli, symlinks, dot-files, dotfile-manager, dotfile-management, dotfiles
Last push: 2025-12-03T01:58:51+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 57/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 55, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5411, "days_push": 274, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1102, forks 56 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:35.669918+00:00)

## What it is
GNU Stow is a symlink farm manager that keeps packages of files in separate directories and makes them appear installed in a common location via symlink trees. It is primarily used today for managing dotfiles in a home directory, often alongside git.

## Use cases
- manage my dotfiles with symlinks
- keep config files in git and deploy them to home directory
- install software built from source into /usr/local without conflicts
- organize multiple versions of a package side by side
- stow and unstow packages from the command line

## When to choose
- you want a simple, dependency-light symlink-based dotfile manager
- you manage source-built software installations in a shared prefix
- you want dotfiles version-controlled with git and linked into place

## When to avoid
- you need a full package manager with dependency resolution
- you want declarative or reproducible system configuration like Nix or Guix
- you need cross-platform config sync beyond Unix-like systems

## Facets
- artifact type: cli-tool
- maturity: stable
- function: cli, package-manager, file-system, developer-tools
- domain: developer-tools, self-hosted
- platform: cli, cross-platform
- tags: dotfiles, symlink-farm, gnu, perl, configuration-management, version-control-friendly, command-line, automation, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- aspiers/stow (main) score 57

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:35.669918+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:45:36.806753+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/aspiers/stow (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:35.669918+00:00, sha cf88a2a5e827)
  - homepage: http://www.gnu.org/s/stow/ (fetched 2026-08-29T12:48:26.971089+00:00, sha f09c6cab317e)
  - site_page: http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:48:26.973947+00:00, sha 12c0fe790bd0)
  - site_page: http://www.gnu.org/doc/doc.html (fetched 2026-08-29T12:48:26.975803+00:00, sha 7645c54f543f)
  - site_page: http://www.gnu.org/software/stow/manual (fetched 2026-08-29T12:48:26.977357+00:00, sha fa286121b29e)
  - site_page: http://www.gnu.org/manual (fetched 2026-08-29T12:48:26.979032+00:00, sha 17c5dc506a37)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.