Re: Package System specification

[Donnie Barnes <djb@donniebarnes.com>]

> >you don't have to support the rpm utility directly.  you only have to
> >support the rpm package format, i.e. knowing how to unpack it and install
> >it in the right location correctly and (most likely) how to remove it
> >correctly.  a tool like alien and your local package managment system can
> >do this just fine.  I've installed rpm's on my debian box this way w/o
> >problems in respect to dpkg (though problems in respect to libs and such,
> >which is exactly what the lsb is here to solve).
> 
> Yes, but the RPM format is far too complex for a standard, IMHO.  In 
> Slackware, we offer "rpm2targz" which converts an RPM to a .tgz file.
> Users have reported successful and unsuccessful installations of these
> converted RPMs.  I have also had varying success.

Then either rpm2targz is broken, or you were doomed to failure because the 
things the RPM needed to work properly weren't available on your system.

The RPM file format is nothing more than an archive of files and some data all 
bound up neatly so that it can be cryptographically signed.  There is no magic 
there.

In fact, RPM *comes with* rpm2cpio, a tool that simply spits out a cpio stream 
of files in the archive.  If rpm2targz can't use this already existing feature 
of RPM to make a tarball correctly, well, that isn't RPM's fault.

> The standard format and package tool should be as simple as possible
> so that the package converters that distributors and third parties
> make work without any problems (or with minimal problems).

Debian already made it work.  *shrug*

> What's the main reason this is being done anyway?  I'm assuming it's
> for commercial vendors to easily offer Linux versions of their software
> and have it installable on all of the distributions.  I just think
> selecting RPM is way too much of an overkill for such as standard.  It
> will introduce far too many more problems than it solves.

This just goes back to the "dependencies are necessary" argument.  Most of the 
free world seems to agree that they are, Slackware users don't.


--Donnie

--
  Donnie Barnes    http://www.donniebarnes.com    djb@redhat.com    "Bah."
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