App Installation Solution

Background

Scoop's standard convention is to treat installation packages as archives and extract them to the Scoop directory. However, this approach has some limitations:

• Some apps do not provide archive formats, or archives are not suitable for direct extraction.
• Forced extraction may cause app malfunction or compatibility issues.

abyss's Solution

abyss's core philosophy is: Scoop's value lies in data persistence and app management, not forced archive extraction. Therefore:

• Prioritize standard installers (exe, msi, msixbundle, etc.) for silent installation.
  • Apps get the same runtime environment as manual installation.
  • Safe to use the app's built-in update mechanism.
• Only use extraction when appropriate: extraction is used only when the app is better suited for archive handling.

Examples

Take NanaZip as an example:

• In Scoop's official manifest, it is treated as an archive extraction → the right-click context menu cannot be registered
• But in abyss, it is installed as a standard msixbundle → the right-click context menu can be registered

Take Git as another example:

Git is a modern development infrastructure, and many apps use its standard install path by default

• In Scoop's official manifest, it is installed under the Scoop directory → may cause limited functionality or inconsistent experience
• But in abyss, it uses the default install path C:\Program Files\Git → standard installation behavior, full functionality is preserved

Permission Requirement

WARNING

• Standard installers may require administrator privileges, triggering a UAC prompt.
• abyss checks permissions in advance. If insufficient, installation will be aborted and the user will be prompted to elevate privileges.
• Therefore, without administrator privileges, some manifests cannot be used.