Jumbo

Jumbo is a Julia distribution that comes with commonly needed scientific packages out of the box. Start using Makie, DifferentialEquations, or any included package immediately - no compilation wait. Additional packages can be installed via Pkg without triggering recompilation of pre-installed packages.

This repository also serves as a template for creating custom Julia distributions tailored to your needs. Fork it, modify the Project.toml to include your preferred packages, and run the "Build Release Assets" GitHub Actions workflow to generate installers for Linux, macOS, and Windows. The distribution format uses a Project.toml with name and version fields - bundling all listed packages and dependencies into the stdlib path to prevent accidental recompilations.

Installation

To install Jumbo, download the appropriate pre-built distribution (MSIX, Snap, or DMG) from the Assets section on the releases page (you may need to expand the Assets dropdown for prerelease versions), then follow the installation instructions below for your platform:

• MSIX (Windows): If self-signed, go to MSIX bundle properties and add the certificate to the trusted certificate authorities first (see https://www.advancedinstaller.com/install-test-certificate-from-msix.html). Then double-click on the installer and install the app.
• Snap (Linux): The snap can be installed from a command line: snap install --classic --dangerous MyApp.snap
• DMG (macOS): If self-signed, you need to click on the app first, then go to Settings -> Privacy & Security, whitelisting the launch request. Then drag and drop the application to the Applications folder. Launch the application and go again to Settings -> Privacy & Security to whitelist it.

Note that all these extra steps are avoidable with investment in Windows and macOS code signing certificates. For Snap, one can try to submit the app to a snap store so it can be installed with a GUI.

Building

To run the build, install Julia 1.11 or later and execute the following commands:

julia --project=meta 
]instantiate

Once dependencies are installed, perform the build:

julia --project=meta -m AppBundler build . --build-dir=build --selfsign

This creates build artifacts in the build directory. By default, the bundle targets the host platform.

Builds can also be performed with GitLab via Build → Pipelines, where they can be started manually or are initiated when tagging a new release. Note that artifact upload to releases has not yet been tested.

Cross-platform Builds

You can create bundles for other platforms using command options:

julia --project=meta -m AppBundler build . --build-dir=build --target-arch=aarch64 --target-bundle=dmg -Djuliaimg_precompile=false --selfsign

This creates a bundle for the specified platform where precompilation will occur on the user's system at first launch.