[NTLUG:Discuss] .debs versus RPMs
A.L.Lambert
alambert at epicrealm.com
Fri Oct 13 09:07:45 CDT 2000
So as I understand your post, basically, the differences lie in
the availability of more mature tools for working with *.deb packages,
that make installation of dependencies easier, and try to help prevent
idiots from making crappy/nonstandard packges. For me, I'll stick with my
RPM's (hey, they do what I want, and I know how they work :), but I
suppose it satisfies some of my curosity as to why some people are so
religious about *.deb's being better than rpm's. Thanks.
--A.L.Lambert
<SNIP>
> > but what on earth do *.deb's do that *.rpm's don't? I've been building my
> > own rpm's for years, and hacking other folks's spec files and such for
> > longer than that, and I have never come across anything I wanted to do
> > with a packaging system that couldn't be done with rpm's. I don't know a
> > whole lot about *.deb's, but I would be interested to know if there's some
> > really cool thing or something that they'll do that rpm's won't. Thanks
> > in advance.
>
> Inherently? While there might be a few bits of functionality back and
> forth that one or the other does a little better, the point is _NOT_
> that there is anything better about the two packaging formats.
<SNIP>
> The _differences_ are in two directions:
>
> a) The "apt" tools provide a coherent way of dealing with _groups_
> of packages, both vis-a-vis:
> 1. Those that may have been collected together in a particular
> "archive," and
> 2. Those that are more directly related due to dependancies.
> The former provides a "multiplexing" way of getting at lists of
> packages to consider for installation.
>
<SNIP>
> b) The debian "dpkg toolset" provides tools (notably "lintian") for
> validating that what you get, after generating a package, you
> have something that conforms to the General Requirements of
> Fitting Well With The Distribution's Policies. Having man pages,
> locating stuff in appropriate locations, and the likes. Probably
> lots of other stuff; I'm not quite sure what.
<SNIP>
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