Capuchin (formerly NewStuffManager) is an open-source program that runs in the background, downloads and installs plugins. It can be used by any application through its D-Bus interface. It's licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) Version 2.

The idea for Capuchin emerged from the Deskbar-Applet <?php print l("Deskbar-Applet", "node/4"); ?> project. The goal for Capuchin is to provide an easy way to upgrade plugins of any application. Therefore, it is very easy for developers to enhance their application with a plugin update service.

The frist prototyp was written in Python. The current version is written in C# using Mono and runs in the background as a D-Bus service. An application that wants to use Capuchin connects to its D-Bus Interface and calls the appropriate method and Capuchin simply does its job.

Currently, only Deskbar-Applet supports Capuchin, but we hope that other applications like gedit, Rhythmbox or Banshee will support Capuchin in the future as well.