Snarwin

If you’re using a shell script to install software, you’ve already failed.

Better alternatives include

• Third-party package managers like Homebrew and Nix.
• Language-specific package managers like pip and npm.
• Self-contained package formats like Flatpak, Snap and AppImage.
• Using checkinstall to turn a package with an install script or a “make install” command into a package your distro recognizes.
• Downloading a tarball and using GNU Stow to install it into /usr/local.
• Compiling from source and installing in $HOME.

This technique is called Huffman coding, and it’s used in a number of compression algorithms.