Question 1

How to install Alire on Windows?

Accepted Answer

Download the latest stable binary from the Releases page on GitHub, as per the Getting Started guide. For development versions, you can build from sources using GNAT Ada 2012 compiler and setting ALIRE_OS to 'windows'.

Question 2

Alire vs cargo for Ada development?

Accepted Answer

Alire is designed specifically for Ada, similar to cargo for Rust, but it integrates with gprbuild and uses TOML configuration. While cargo has a larger ecosystem, Alire fills a crucial gap in Ada by providing centralized dependency management.

Question 3

Does Alire work with GNAT Community edition?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Alire requires a recent Ada 2012 compiler, and the README mentions using the latest GNAT Community edition. Continuous integration tests include various GNAT versions to ensure compatibility.

Question 4

How to add a dependency in Alire?

Accepted Answer

Edit the alire.toml file in your project root to include dependencies, then run 'alr with' to retrieve and build them. The tool automatically handles environment setup for gprbuild integration.

Question 5

Can Alire manage system packages?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Alire can integrate with system package managers for certain crates, but it requires user authorization via sudo. This is optional and depends on platform availability, as noted in the design principles.

Question 6

What is the Alire community index?

Accepted Answer

It's a centralized catalog of Ada libraries stored as TOML files, which alr uses to automatically retrieve and build dependencies. The index is community-driven, similar to repositories in other package managers.

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