diff --git a/lib/matchers/matchers.rb b/lib/matchers/matchers.rb
index 5c62b6218..29b9e920c 100644
--- a/lib/matchers/matchers.rb
+++ b/lib/matchers/matchers.rb
@@ -88,3 +88,23 @@ RSpec::Matchers.define :contain_duplicates do
     !dup.uniq.empty?
   end
 end
+
+# for packages
+RSpec::Matchers.define :be_installed do
+  match do |package|
+    package.installed? == true
+  end
+
+  failure_message do |package|
+    "expected that `#{package}` is installed"
+  end
+
+  chain :by do
+    fail "[UNSUPPORTED] Please use the new resources 'gem', 'npm' or 'pip'."
+  end
+
+  chain :with_version do |version|
+    warn "[DEPRECATION] `with_version` is deprecated.  Please use `its(:version) { should eq '1.4.1' }` instead."
+    @version = version
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/resources/gem.rb b/lib/resources/gem.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9333895dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/resources/gem.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+
+# Usage:
+# describe gem('rubocop') do
+#   it { should be_installed }
+# end
+class GemPackage < Vulcano.resource(1)
+  name 'gem'
+
+  def initialize(package_name)
+    @package_name = package_name
+  end
+
+  def info
+    cmd = vulcano.run_command("gem list --local -a -q \^#{@package_name}\$")
+    return nil if cmd.exit_status != 0
+
+    # extract package name and version
+    # parses data like winrm (1.3.4, 1.3.3)
+    params = /^\s*([^\(]*?)\s*\((.*?)\)\s*$/.match(cmd.stdout.chomp)
+    versions = params[2].split(',')
+    @cache = {
+      name: params[1],
+      version: versions[0],
+      type: 'gem'
+    }
+  end
+
+  def installed?
+    !info.nil?
+  end
+
+  def version
+    return nil if info.nil?
+    info[:version]
+  end
+
+  def to_s
+    "pip package #{@package_name}"
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/resources/npm.rb b/lib/resources/npm.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4ebcfc385
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/resources/npm.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+
+# Usage:
+# describe npm('bower') do
+#   it { should be_installed }
+# end
+class NpmPackage < Vulcano.resource(1)
+  name 'npm'
+
+  def initialize(package_name)
+    @package_name = package_name
+    @cache = nil
+  end
+
+  def info
+    return @cache if !@cache.nil?
+    cmd = vulcano.run_command("npm ls -g --json #{@package_name}")
+    return nil if cmd.exit_status != 0
+    pkgs = JSON.parse(cmd.stdout)
+    @cache = {
+      name: @package_name,
+      version: pkgs['dependencies'][@package_name]['version'],
+      type: 'npm'
+    }
+  end
+
+  def installed?
+    !info.nil?
+  end
+
+  def version
+    return nil if info.nil?
+    info[:version]
+  end
+
+  def to_s
+    "npm package #{@package_name}"
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/resources/package.rb b/lib/resources/package.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..86c71492a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/resources/package.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+
+# Resource to determine package information
+#
+# Usage:
+# describe package('nginx') do
+#   it { should be_installed }
+# end
+class Package < Vulcano.resource(1)
+  name 'package'
+
+  def initialize(package_name = nil)
+    @package_name = package_name
+    @name = @package_name
+    @cache = nil
+
+    # select package manager
+    @pkgman = nil
+    case os[:family]
+    when 'ubuntu', 'debian'
+      @pkgman = Deb.new(vulcano)
+    when 'redhat', 'fedora'
+      @pkgman = Rpm.new(vulcano)
+    when 'arch'
+      @pkgman = Pacman.new(vulcano)
+    when 'darwin'
+      @pkgman = Brew.new(vulcano)
+    else
+      fail 'The `package` resource is not supported on your OS yet. Please open an issue on Github.'
+    end
+  end
+
+  # returns true if the package is installed
+  def installed?(provider = nil, version = nil)
+    !info.nil?
+  end
+
+  # returns the package description
+  def info
+    return @cache if !@cache.nil?
+    @pkgman.info(@package_name)
+  end
+
+  # return the package version
+  def version
+    info = @pkgman.info(@package_name)
+    return nil if info.nil?
+    info[:version]
+  end
+
+  def to_s
+    "System package #{@package_name}"
+  end
+end
+
+class PkgManagement
+  def initialize(vulcano)
+    @vulcano = vulcano
+  end
+end
+
+# Debian / Ubuntu
+class Deb < PkgManagement
+  def info(package_name)
+    cmd = @vulcano.run_command("dpkg -s #{package_name}")
+    return nil if cmd.exit_status.to_i != 0
+
+    params = SimpleConfig.new(
+      cmd.stdout.chomp,
+      assignment_re: /^\s*([^:]*?)\s*:\s*(.*?)\s*$/,
+      multiple_values: false
+    ).params
+    {
+      name: params['Package'],
+      installed: true,
+      version: params['Version'],
+      type: 'deb'
+    }
+  end
+end
+
+# RHEL family
+class Rpm < PkgManagement
+  def info(package_name)
+    cmd = @vulcano.run_command("rpm -qia  #{package_name}")
+    return nil if cmd.exit_status.to_i != 0
+    params = SimpleConfig.new(
+      cmd.stdout.chomp,
+      assignment_re: /^\s*([^:]*?)\s*:\s*(.*?)\s*$/,
+      multiple_values: false
+    ).params
+    {
+      name: params['Name'],
+      installed: true,
+      version: params['Version'],
+      type: 'rpm'
+    }
+  end
+end
+
+# MacOS / Darwin implementation
+class Brew < PkgManagement
+  def info(package_name)
+    cmd = @vulcano.run_command("brew info --json=v1 #{package_name}")
+    return nil if cmd.exit_status.to_i != 0
+    # parse data
+    pkg = JSON.parse(cmd.stdout)[0]
+    {
+      name: "#{pkg.name}",
+      installed: true,
+      version: "#{pkg.installed.version}",
+      type: 'brew'
+    }
+  end
+end
+
+# Arch Linux
+class Pacman < PkgManagement
+  def info(package_name)
+    cmd = @vulcano.run_command("pacman -Qi  #{package_name}")
+    return nil if cmd.exit_status.to_i != 0
+
+    params = SimpleConfig.new(
+      cmd.stdout.chomp,
+      assignment_re: /^\s*([^:]*?)\s*:\s*(.*?)\s*$/,
+      multiple_values: false
+    ).params
+
+    {
+      name: params['Name'],
+      installed: true,
+      version: params['Version'],
+      type: 'pacman'
+    }
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/resources/pip.rb b/lib/resources/pip.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..94d7f4106
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/resources/pip.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+
+# Usage:
+# describe pip('Jinja2') do
+#   it { should be_installed }
+# end
+class PipPackage < Vulcano.resource(1)
+  name 'pip'
+
+  def initialize(package_name)
+    @package_name = package_name
+  end
+
+  def info
+    cmd = vulcano.run_command("pip show #{@package_name}")
+    return nil if cmd.exit_status != 0
+
+    params = SimpleConfig.new(
+      cmd.stdout,
+      assignment_re: /^\s*([^:]*?)\s*:\s*(.*?)\s*$/,
+      multiple_values: false
+    ).params
+    @cache = {
+      name: params['Name'],
+      installed: true,
+      version: params['Version'],
+      type: 'pip'
+    }
+  end
+
+  def installed?
+    !info.nil?
+  end
+
+  def version
+    return nil if info.nil?
+    info[:version]
+  end
+
+  def to_s
+    "pip package  #{@package_name}"
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/vulcano/resource.rb b/lib/vulcano/resource.rb
index 8ab0d9961..b41d96233 100644
--- a/lib/vulcano/resource.rb
+++ b/lib/vulcano/resource.rb
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ require 'resources/command'
 require 'resources/directory'
 require 'resources/etc_group'
 require 'resources/file'
+require 'resources/gem'
 require 'resources/group_policy'
 require 'resources/inetd_conf'
 require 'resources/limits_conf'
@@ -34,10 +35,13 @@ require 'resources/login_def'
 require 'resources/mysql'
 require 'resources/mysql_conf'
 require 'resources/mysql_session'
+require 'resources/npm'
 require 'resources/ntp_conf'
 require 'resources/os_env'
+require 'resources/package'
 require 'resources/parse_config'
 require 'resources/passwd'
+require 'resources/pip'
 require 'resources/postgres'
 require 'resources/postgres_conf'
 require 'resources/postgres_session'
diff --git a/test/helper.rb b/test/helper.rb
index bfc17c2fa..5775a2260 100644
--- a/test/helper.rb
+++ b/test/helper.rb
@@ -49,15 +49,21 @@ def loadResource (resource, *args)
     @backend.mock_command( stdout, '', 0 )
   }
   @backend.commands = {
-    'ps aux' => cmd.('ps-aux'),
-    'type win_secpol.cfg' => cmd.('secedit-export'),
-    'secedit /export /cfg win_secpol.cfg' => cmd.('success'),
-    'del win_secpol.cfg' => cmd.('success'),
-    'su - root -c \'echo $PATH\'' => cmd.('PATH'),
-    '(Get-Item \'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Schedule\').GetValue(\'Start\')' => cmd.('reg_schedule'),
-    'Auditpol /get /subcategory:\'User Account Management\' /r' => cmd.('auditpol'),
-    '/sbin/auditctl -l' => cmd.('auditctl'),
-    'yum -v repolist all'  => cmd.('yum-repolist-all'),
+    'ps aux' => cmd.call('ps-aux'),
+    'type win_secpol.cfg' => cmd.call('secedit-export'),
+    'secedit /export /cfg win_secpol.cfg' => cmd.call('success'),
+    'del win_secpol.cfg' => cmd.call('success'),
+    'su - root -c \'echo $PATH\'' => cmd.call('PATH'),
+    '(Get-Item \'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Schedule\').GetValue(\'Start\')' => cmd.call('reg_schedule'),
+    'Auditpol /get /subcategory:\'User Account Management\' /r' => cmd.call('auditpol'),
+    '/sbin/auditctl -l' => cmd.call('auditctl'),
+    'yum -v repolist all'  => cmd.call('yum-repolist-all'),
+    'dpkg -s curl' => cmd.call('dpkg-s-curl'),
+    'rpm -qia curl' => cmd.call('rpm-qia-curl'),
+    'pacman -Qi curl' => cmd.call('packman-qi-curl'),
+    'gem list --local -a -q ^rubocop$' => cmd.call('gem-list-local-a-q-rubocop'),
+    'npm ls -g --json bower' => cmd.call('npm-ls-g--json-bower'),
+    'pip show jinja2' => cmd.call('pip-show-jinja2')
   }
 
   # load resource
diff --git a/test/unit/mock/cmd/brew-info-jq b/test/unit/mock/cmd/brew-info-jq
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3faff22f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/mock/cmd/brew-info-jq
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+[{"name":"jq","full_name":"jq","desc":"Lightweight and flexible command-line JSON processor","homepage":"https://stedolan.github.io/jq/","versions":{"stable":"1.4","bottle":true,"devel":"1.5rc2","head":"HEAD"},"revision":0,"installed":[{"version":"1.4","used_options":[],"built_as_bottle":null,"poured_from_bottle":true}],"linked_keg":"1.4","keg_only":null,"dependencies":["bison"],"conflicts_with":[],"caveats":null,"requirements":[],"options":[]}]
diff --git a/test/unit/mock/cmd/dpkg-s-curl b/test/unit/mock/cmd/dpkg-s-curl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7bafc71ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/mock/cmd/dpkg-s-curl
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+Package: curl
+Status: install ok installed
+Priority: optional
+Section: web
+Installed-Size: 306
+Maintainer: Ubuntu Developers <ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com>
+Architecture: amd64
+Multi-Arch: foreign
+Version: 7.35.0-1ubuntu2
+Depends: libc6 (>= 2.17), libcurl3 (= 7.35.0-1ubuntu2), zlib1g (>= 1:1.1.4)
+Description: command line tool for transferring data with URL syntax
+ curl is a command line tool for transferring data with URL syntax, supporting
+ DICT, FILE, FTP, FTPS, GOPHER, HTTP, HTTPS, IMAP, IMAPS, LDAP, LDAPS, POP3,
+ POP3S, RTMP, RTSP, SCP, SFTP, SMTP, SMTPS, TELNET and TFTP.
+ .
+ curl supports SSL certificates, HTTP POST, HTTP PUT, FTP uploading, HTTP form
+ based upload, proxies, cookies, user+password authentication (Basic, Digest,
+ NTLM, Negotiate, kerberos...), file transfer resume, proxy tunneling and a
+ busload of other useful tricks.
+Homepage: http://curl.haxx.se
+Original-Maintainer: Alessandro Ghedini <ghedo@debian.org>
diff --git a/test/unit/mock/cmd/gem-list-local-a-q-rubocop b/test/unit/mock/cmd/gem-list-local-a-q-rubocop
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3e2b6810d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/mock/cmd/gem-list-local-a-q-rubocop
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+rubocop (0.33.0, 0.32.1, 0.28.0)
diff --git a/test/unit/mock/cmd/npm-ls-g--json-bower b/test/unit/mock/cmd/npm-ls-g--json-bower
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a7ee4566c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/mock/cmd/npm-ls-g--json-bower
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{
+  "dependencies": {
+    "bower": {
+      "version": "1.4.1",
+      "from": "bower@*",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/bower/-/bower-1.4.1.tgz"
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/test/unit/mock/cmd/packman-qi-curl b/test/unit/mock/cmd/packman-qi-curl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f21159bc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/mock/cmd/packman-qi-curl
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+Name           : curl
+Version        : 7.37.0-1
+Description    : An URL retrieval utility and library
+Architecture   : x86_64
+URL            : http://curl.haxx.se
+Licenses       : MIT
+Groups         : None
+Provides       : libcurl.so=4-64
+Depends On     : ca-certificates  krb5  libssh2  openssl  zlib
+Optional Deps  : None
+Required By    : pacman
+Optional For   : gnupg
+Conflicts With : None
+Replaces       : None
+Installed Size : 962.00 KiB
+Packager       : Dave Reisner <dreisner@archlinux.org>
+Build Date     : Wed May 21 17:55:21 2014
+Install Date   : Mon Jul 21 01:15:48 2014
+Install Reason : Installed as a dependency for another package
+Install Script : No
+Validated By   : Signature
diff --git a/test/unit/mock/cmd/pip-show-jinja2 b/test/unit/mock/cmd/pip-show-jinja2
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4b0fb50c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/mock/cmd/pip-show-jinja2
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+---
+Metadata-Version: 2.0
+Name: Jinja2
+Version: 2.8
+Summary: A small but fast and easy to use stand-alone template engine written in pure python.
+Home-page: http://jinja.pocoo.org/
+Author: Armin Ronacher
+Author-email: armin.ronacher@active-4.com
+License: BSD
+Location: /Library/Python/2.7/site-packages
+Requires: MarkupSafe
diff --git a/test/unit/mock/cmd/rpm-qia-curl b/test/unit/mock/cmd/rpm-qia-curl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..816bcc87e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/mock/cmd/rpm-qia-curl
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+Name        : curl
+Version     : 7.29.0
+Release     : 19.el7
+Architecture: x86_64
+Install Date: Thu Jun 18 12:38:01 2015
+Group       : Applications/Internet
+Size        : 535105
+License     : MIT
+Signature   : RSA/SHA256, Fri Jul  4 01:04:23 2014, Key ID 24c6a8a7f4a80eb5
+Source RPM  : curl-7.29.0-19.el7.src.rpm
+Build Date  : Mon Jun  9 23:19:16 2014
+Build Host  : worker1.bsys.centos.org
+Relocations : (not relocatable)
+Packager    : CentOS BuildSystem <http://bugs.centos.org>
+Vendor      : CentOS
+URL         : http://curl.haxx.se/
+Summary     : A utility for getting files from remote servers (FTP, HTTP, and others)
+Description :
+curl is a command line tool for transferring data with URL syntax, supporting
+FTP, FTPS, HTTP, HTTPS, SCP, SFTP, TFTP, TELNET, DICT, LDAP, LDAPS, FILE, IMAP,
+SMTP, POP3 and RTSP.  curl supports SSL certificates, HTTP POST, HTTP PUT, FTP
+uploading, HTTP form based upload, proxies, cookies, user+password
+authentication (Basic, Digest, NTLM, Negotiate, kerberos...), file transfer
+resume, proxy tunneling and a busload of other useful tricks.
diff --git a/test/unit/resource_gem_test.rb b/test/unit/resource_gem_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e086082db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/resource_gem_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+
+require 'helper'
+require 'vulcano/resource'
+
+describe 'Vulcano::Resources::Passwd' do
+  describe 'gem' do
+    let(:resource) { loadResource('gem', 'rubocop') }
+
+    it 'verify gem package detail parsing' do
+      pkg = { name: 'rubocop', version: '0.33.0', type: 'gem' }
+      _(resource.installed?).must_equal true
+      _(resource.info).must_equal pkg
+    end
+
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/unit/resource_npm_test.rb b/test/unit/resource_npm_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..870b5ffbf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/resource_npm_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+
+require 'helper'
+require 'vulcano/resource'
+
+describe 'Vulcano::Resources::Passwd' do
+  describe 'npm' do
+    let(:resource) { loadResource('npm', 'bower') }
+
+    it 'verify npm package detail parsing' do
+      pkg = { name: 'bower', version: '1.4.1', type: 'npm'}
+      _(resource.installed?).must_equal true
+      _(resource.info).must_equal pkg
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/unit/resource_package_test.rb b/test/unit/resource_package_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..19a0198e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/resource_package_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+
+require 'helper'
+require 'vulcano/resource'
+
+describe 'Vulcano::Resources::Passwd' do
+  describe 'package' do
+
+    # TODO: set operating system to arch
+    # let(:resource) { loadResource('package', 'curl') }
+
+    # arch linux
+    # it 'verify package parsing' do
+    #   pkg = { name: 'curl', installed: true, version: '7.37.0-1', type: 'pacman' }
+    #   _(resource.installed?).must_equal true
+    #   _(resource.info).must_equal pkg
+    # end
+
+    # ubuntu
+    # it 'verify package parsing' do
+    #   pkg = { name: 'curl', installed: true, version: '7.35.0-1ubuntu2', type: 'deb' }
+    #   _(resource.installed?).must_equal true
+    #   _(resource.info).must_equal pkg
+    # end
+
+    # centos
+    #
+    # it 'verify package parsing' do
+    #   pkg = { name: 'curl', installed: true, version: '7.29.0', type: 'rpm' }
+    #   _(resource.installed?).must_equal true
+    #   _(resource.info).must_equal pkg
+    # end
+
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/unit/resource_pip_test.rb b/test/unit/resource_pip_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bd8515fce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/resource_pip_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+
+require 'helper'
+require 'vulcano/resource'
+
+describe 'Vulcano::Resources::Passwd' do
+  describe 'pip' do
+    let(:resource) { loadResource('pip', 'jinja2') }
+
+    it 'verify pip package detail parsing' do
+      pkg = {:name=>"Jinja2", :installed=>true, :version=>"2.8", :type=>"pip"}
+      _(resource.installed?).must_equal true
+      _(resource.info).must_equal pkg
+    end
+
+  end
+end