Install gvp with Homebrew

Project links

• Homepage

Commands and aliases

• gvp

Project history

The GitHub repository was created on 2014-02-01, and the first GitHub release was published on 2014-02-04. The README says gvp was based on gst, a similar dependency-isolation tool for Ruby gems, and was designed as a companion to gpm while remaining usable on its own.

The release stream moved quickly in 2014 and 2015, with releases for environment handling, plugin support, and other fixes. GitHub releases list v0.3.0 on 2015-07-28 as a release named 'Major improvements and fixes'.

Adoption history

gvp was packaged for Homebrew and documented a Unix-style source installation flow. Its adoption was tied to Go developers who wanted project-local dependencies before Go modules made module-aware dependency resolution the normal path.

The README's examples combine gpm and gvp, showing a workflow where gpm handled dependency lists and gvp switched the shell into the right dependency context for a project. That made it useful to people juggling multiple GOPATH-based projects with conflicting dependency versions.

How it is used

gvp is sourced into the shell because a child process cannot modify the parent shell environment. Once sourced, gvp in adjusts GOPATH and GOBIN to the .godeps tree, gvp out restores the prompt and environment, gvp version prints version information, and unknown subcommands can be delegated to executables named gvp-<command> through the plugin mechanism.

The README also documents autoenv integration: a project can place a source command in .env so entering the directory activates the gvp environment automatically.

Why package nerds care

gvp is historically interesting because it packages the GOPATH workaround era into a tiny tool. It shows how Go users handled isolation before module files became the standard metadata, and it connects Go packaging practice to earlier language-specific environment switchers such as Ruby's gst.

Timeline

• 2014-02-01: Public GitHub repository created.
• 2014-02-04: First GitHub release, v0.01, published.
• 2014-09-28: v0.2.0 release published.
• 2015-07-28: v0.3.0 release published with major improvements and fixes.
• 2015-10-07: Repository metadata records later activity in the project.

Related projects

• gpm: README describes gvp as a companion tool for Go dependency management.
• gst: README says gvp was based on this Ruby-gem dependency-isolation tool.
• autoenv: README documents automatic activation through .env files.
• Go GOPATH tooling: gvp's purpose is to isolate GOPATH-era project dependencies.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/pote/gvp
• https://api.github.com/repos/pote/gvp/releases?per_page=100
• https://github.com/pote/gvp
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pote/gvp/master/README.md