An ebuild is a specialized bash script which automates compilation and installation procedures for software packages. The format was created by the Gentoo Linux project for use in its Portage software management system. Although most ebuilds found in the Gentoo Portage repository are used to compile programs from source code, there are also ebuilds to install binary packages, ebuilds that install only documentation or data such as fonts, and basic ebuilds called "metabuilds" whose sole purpose is to trigger the installation of other ebuilds (such as the GNOME or KDE metabuilds).