autopip 1.0: Easily install apps from PyPI and keep them updated

It's been a fun week working on autopip and I am happy to announce 1.0 has been released -- it works. :) Check it out at https://pypi.org/project/autopip/

autopip simplifies installing Python apps, a package that contains bin scripts, from PyPI. It uses venv and pip under the hood to automatically create a virtual environment per app version, installs the app, and then atomically create symlinks for scripts in /usr/local/bin. By having each app/version install in its own virtual environment, you ensure there are no conflicts with other apps and it doesn't pollute your Python installation, so the app works as its developers intended. It is much faster/easier than managing the virtual environments yourself. Optionally, autopip can keep the app updated on a custom frequency (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly) using cron service.

If you are an app developer, you can also create an installation group that allows users to install a set of related apps with various version and update frequency settings -- each in its own virtual environment, of course. Take a look at an actual example at https://pypi.org/project/developer-tools/

Try it and hope that you like it as much as I do.

This is part of the Technology blog series.