Also, limit your use of OS libraries to the bare minimum - prefer building all dependencies on your own and bundle them with your app (as you would on Windows). Most software that works even after decades is to basically statically link against everything and do not depend on OS filesystem layout besides ~ and your installation directory. rpm, but I would recommend against going that route if you depend on other packages being installed, as packages get split or renamed over the years. On Linux dstributions - there is no such a thing as universal installer :) They all go out of their way to make it difficult to provide binary packages that can survive more than a few releases/years, let alone compatible across distributions. Time consuming if you haven't written an installer before. you can write your own from scratch, it is relatively easy (if you have even modest Win32 experience).many use the Nullsoft installer (NSIS) - also free and open source.It is free, and also open source, if you care about that. many companies use WIX, an abstraction over WI.the classic is to use Windows Installer (a.k.a.msi).

At the very least, users of different OS-es *expect* that adding software will be done differently.

Do not belive that there is a magic pill that will help you distribute your software in a uniform way (well, apart from Steam maybe). Other OS-es handle adding software quite differently. Next-next installers are a very Windows thing. Operating systems are different and they handle software installation in a different fashion.

Installshield alternatives open source