Nextflow native package distribution

Summary

Provide a new Nextflow package distribution that runs natively in the target execution environment ie. deb and rpm on Linux and dmg on MacOs.

Goals

• Provide a self-contained application package that runs natively in target OS without the need to install the Java virtual machine.
• Streamline the installation of the Nexflow package.

Description

The core Nextflow application is distributed as a collection of JAR files that are downloaded by the launcher nextflow script. Managing the download of the required dependencies can create unexpected problems (see #1806), moreover, the need of having a preinstalled Java VM can be overkill for some users.

Recent versions of the Java (16 and later) includes the jpackage tool that allows the creation of a native platform executable including all the application dependencies and the Java runtime. This means that it can be created a self-contained executable that can run natively in the target environment.

See https://openjdk.java.net/jeps/392

Start with the nextflow launcher and the Java jpackage tool described in JEP 392. Define how the core application and dependencies should be packaged as Linux deb/rpm and macOS dmg distributions. Done means a self-contained package runs on its target OS without a preinstalled Java VM and simplifies installation.