[mikeash]

How was the iOS app store lifted from Linux package managers? The main characteristic of Linux package managers, as I see it, is dependency management. Third-party iOS apps aren't allowed to have any external dependencies outside of the OS, so there is no dependency management. Installing an iOS app is just a matter of downloading it and unpacking it.

[akldfgj]

From dpkg to Ubuntu Software Center, update managers have provided a list of installable software that can be downloaded from a repository, similar in functionality to the App Store UI. (Ubuntu's UI is most like Apple's, but I don't know which came first.)