What Is SSM?

SSM (v11) is a package manager for managing software apart from the native package manager.

Why SSM?

SSM is useful for large sites with many platforms, locally developed software, and special builds of standard software not available in installed OS distributions.

Some common use cases are:

• Users who build software but want a way to manage what they have built in their home directories, not in system areas and without the need for root access.
• Administrators who build software for multiple platforms but do not want to tie themselves to a single native package manager (e.g., RPM).
• In-house developers who may want to make multiple versions of their software to users alongside system packages.
• Software library maintainers who want to be able to maintain collections of software, each tailored to a specific user or group.

SSM Features

• multiple platforms - Most UNIX and Linux operating systems capable of running Python 2.3 and greater.
• multiple package versions - Multiple versions of a package may be made available to users, where each user can tailor which packages he wants immediate access to.
• multiple collections of packages - One or more (related in some way) packages may be installed together and selectable/accessible on demand.
• multiple administrators - Each collection (called an SSM domain) is maintained/administrated by a single user without the need for special privileges.

See here for documentation.