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Getting/Installing dds

Getting/Installing dds

dds ships as a single statically linked executable. It does not have any installer or distribution package.

Downloading

Downloads are available on the main dds website as well as the GitHub Releases page. Select the executable appropriate for your platform.

Alternatively, the appropriate executable can be downloaded directly from the command-line with an easy-to-remember URL. Using curl:

# For Linux, writes a file in the working directory called "dds"
curl dds.pizza/get/linux -Lo dds

# For macOS, writes a file in the working directory called "dds"
curl dds.pizza/get/macos -Lo dds

Or using PowerShell on Windows:

# Writes a file in the working directory called "dds.exe"
Invoke-WebRequest dds.pizza/get/windows -OutFile dds.exe

On Linux, macOS, or other Unix-like system, you will need to mark the downloaded file as executable:

# Add the executable bit to the file mode for the file named "dds"
chmod +x dds

Installing

Note that it is not necessary to “install” dds before it can be used. dds is a single standalone executable that can be executed in whatever directory it is placed. If you are running a CI process and need dds, it is viable to simply download the executable and place it in your source tree and execute it from that directory.

However: If you want to be able to execute dds with an unqualified command name from any shell interpreter, you will need to place dds on a directory on your shell’s PATH environment variable.

Easy Mode: install-yourself

dds includes a subcommand “install-yourself” that will move its own executable to a predetermined directory and ensure that it exists on your PATH environment variable. It is simple enough to run the command:

$ ./dds install-yourself

This will copy the executable ./dds into a user-local directory designated for containing user-local executable binaries. On Unix-like systems, this is ~/.local/bin, and on Windows this is %LocalAppData%/bin. dds will also ensure that the destination directory is available on the PATH environment variable for your user profile.

Note

If dds reports that is has modified your PATH, you will need to restart your command line and any other applications that wish to see dds on your PATH.

Manually: On Unix-like Systems

For an unprivileged, user-specific installation (preferred), we recommend placing dds in ~/.local/bin (Where ~ represents the $HOME directory of the current user).

Although not officially standardized, the XDG Base Directory specification recommends several related directories to live within ~/.local (and dds itself follows those recommendations for the most part). The systemd file heirarchy also recommends placing user-local binaries in ~/.local/bin, and several Linux distribution’s shell packages add ~/.local/bin to the startup $PATH.

Placing a file in ~/.local/bin requires no privileges beyond what the current user can execute, and gives a good isolation to other users on the system. Other tools (e.g. pip) will also use ~/.local/bin for the installation of user-local scripts and commands.

Note

On some shells, ~/.local/bin is not an entry on $PATH by default. Check if your shell’s default $PATH environment variable contains .local/bin. If it does not, refer to your shell’s documentation on how to add this directory to the startup $PATH.

For a system-wide installation, place the downloaded dds executable within the /usr/local/bin/ directory. This will be a directory on the PATH for any Unix-like system.

Note

DO NOT place dds in /usr/bin or /bin: These are reserved for your system’s package management utilities.

Manually: On Windows

Unlike Unix-like systems, Windows does not have a directory designated for user-installed binaries that lives on the PATH. If you have a directory that you use for custom binaries, simply place dds.exe in that directory.

If you are unfamiliar with placing binaries and modifying your PATH, read on:

For an unprivileged, user-specific installation, dds should be placed in a user-local directory, and that directory should be added to the user PATH.

To emulate what dds install-yourself does, follow the following steps:

  1. Create a directory %LocalAppData%\bin\ if it does not exist.

    For cmd.exe

    md %LocalAppData%\bin

    Or for PowerShell:

    md $env:LocalAppData\bin

  2. Copy dds.exe into the %LocalAppData%\bin directory.

  3. Go to the Start Menu, and run “Edit environment variables for your account”

  4. In the upper area, find and open the entry for the “Path” variable.

  5. Add an entry in “Path” for %LocalAppData%\bin.

  6. Confirm your edits.

  7. Restart any applications that require the modified environment, including command-lines.

If the above steps are performed successfully, you should be able to open a new command window and execute dds --help to get the help output.

Next: A Hello, world! Application
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