Rewrite munkipkg in Perl so it runs on stock macOS (no Python required)

[keeleysam]

Why

Recent macOS releases no longer ship a Python interpreter. Today munkipkg requires each user to install and maintain their own Python 3 (via python.org, Homebrew, Munki's bundled Python, etc.) before they can build a package. This rewrites munkipkg as a single Perl script that runs against the Perl that ships with stock macOS (currently 5.34), with no dependencies to install.

It's a drop-in replacement — nobody should notice the change

The only difference anyone should experience is that they no longer need to install Python. Everything else is unchanged:

• Same command name, options, and --help / --version / usage text.
• Same munkipkg: … stdout messages, the same ERROR: / WARNING: stderr text, and the same exit codes.
• Same build-info formats (plist, json, yaml) and the same project layout.
• Existing package projects and AutoPkg recipes work unchanged — including projects whose own pre/postinstall scripts are written in Python, since those run via pkgbuild regardless of language.

The Perl mirrors the previous Python function-for-function (same names, order, and comments) so the change is straightforward to review side by side.

Tested and verified compatible

I verified parity against the current Python tool directly:

• The three in-repo sample projects (SuppressSetupAssistant, TurnOffBluetooth, munki_kickstart) build to byte-identical expanded package contents — PackageInfo, Bom, and Distribution — compared to the Python tool, across both component and distribution-style packages.
• --create, --import (flat component + distribution), and --sync all produce byte-identical output vs the Python tool.
• Property-list output is byte-identical to plistlib, and --create --json matches the Python JSON output including key order.

And now there are tests

This adds a Perl test suite (tests/, using the core Test::More) covering the CLI surface, plist/JSON/YAML serialization, build-info handling, pkgbuild/productbuild/notarytool argv construction, bundle import, end-to-end package builds, and --sync. Run with prove tests/.

Implementation notes

• Property lists are read and written through the macOS Foundation Objective-C bridge (PerlObjCBridge, ships with macOS), so plist handling is native rather than shelling out.
• JSON uses the core JSON::PP; YAML build-info uses the system YAML module when present (optional, exactly as PyYAML was before).
• The tool never shells out except to the Apple packaging binaries it wraps (pkgbuild, productbuild, pkgutil, lsbom, ditto, xcrun), all invoked in list form (no shell); even package removal is native Perl.

[gregneagle]

Claude/Codex/ChatGPT can be amazing little robots.

I personally don't want to maintain Perl code. I did a fair amount of Perl coding 15-20 years ago and that was plenty. The tool does have a lot of potential value, so if you are serious about this, consider creating your own GitHub repo (and probably renaming the tool -- there's really no reason to refer to Munki at all, as it is a general-purpose packaging tool).

For this repo and tool, I think one of two things are likely to happen: 1) Ported to Swift, or 2) Archived as read-only and abandoned.