The Zero-Friction Installer: A One-Command Solution to Developer Onboarding

​Developer onboarding shouldn’t take half a day. Yet for most teams, setting up a project environment is still a slow, frustrating process—one filled with cryptic READMEs, dependency conflicts, Docker issues, and the dreaded “works on my machine” problem.

After dealing with this headache too many times, I built something to fix it once and for all:

tri-installer.sh — The Zero-Friction Installer.

A single-file, portable installer that automates 100% of project setup for Mac, Linux, and Windows/WSL.

It’s simple, fast, and built for teams who want onboarding to take minutes—not hours.

💡 Why I Created tri-installer.sh

Every modern software project comes with layers of complexity:

• Docker services
• Dependencies
• Environment variables
• Directory scaffolding
• Installation scripts
• Platform differences (macOS vs Linux vs WSL)

Individually, each piece is manageable—but together, they create friction. For new developers, contractors, or open-source contributors, this friction costs hours of productivity.

I wanted a “one-tap setup” for any environment—something I could run on a clean machine and be ready to work within minutes.

So I built it.

🔧 What tri-installer.sh Does

The script is designed to eliminate every unnecessary step in setup. It is:

✅ 

Cross-Platform

Works out of the box on:

• macOS
• Linux
• Windows via WSL

No modifications. No conditionals. No special instructions.

✅ 

Zero Sudo Required

Everything installs cleanly in:

~/tri-demo

This avoids permission errors, sudo password prompts, and system-level pollution.

✅ 

Docker Services Start Automatically

Once the installer runs, it:

• Pulls required Docker images
• Starts containers
• Verifies they’re running
• Creates required directories and configs

Your environment simply works—no manual steps required.

✅ 

Includes fork-me.sh

A tiny bonus script that lets you inject the demo environment into any GitHub repo instantly.

Perfect for:

• Testing
• Prototyping
• Demo environments
• Internal developer experience tools

👉 https://gist.github.com/cmiller9851-wq/b7acabfc821253f705c55876f395bf98

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