Subject: Re: rpms and tarballs
From: Hollis R Blanchard (hollis+@andrew.cmu.edu)
Date: Tue Dec 05 2000 - 19:41:27 MST
On Tue, 5 Dec 2000, Patrick Callahan wrote:
> Charles Stevenson wrote:
>
> > The best way to do this with YDL is to use RPMS not tarballs... RPM
> > will put the files where they need to go and set the permissions
> > correctly.
>
> This strategy works extremely well for anything Terrasoft puts out. I
> use it on anything that is available from them directly. But since not
> all RPMS are created by Terrasoft, wouldn't there be differences that
> rpm couldn't handle?
Yes, this does happen sometimes. For example, you wouldn't want to try to
install SuSE's initscripts (or "isxk1.ppc.rpm" or whatever they call
it... ;).
> What would happen if someone with required files
> in /opt created an rpm and I tried to install it on my machine. Would
> the files land in /opt correctly? Would the /opt directory get created
> by rpm if it did not exist?
/usr/lib/yup does not exist until you install the yup rpm...
> Also what happens if I've upgraded a
> library and the rpm insists on a version that is no longer current?
If you need an older library then you need it. rpm enforces dependancies
as a feature. If you really don't care and are willing to risk
incompatibilities, that's what --nodeps is for. Expect binaries to break
when you force install incompatible libararies.
> While I have not built a large number of packages, I have been able to
> build a few things from sources. I prefer building from sources to
> asking "Where can I find an rpm for..." in one or another mailing list,
> and then waiting for someone to produce one compatible with the pretty
> much stock CS 1.2.1 system I have.
In most cases you can build an rpm as easily as a tarball. In fact, most
packages worth something include a spec file, so all you have to do is
type 'rpm -tb file.tar.gz && rpm -ivh /usr/src/rpm/RPMS/ppc/file*.rpm'.
Less typing than 'tar zxvf file.tar.gz && cd file* && ./configure && make
&& make install', PLUS you get automatic dependancy-checking,
verification, uninstall, and more...
There are certainly reasons for building things from source, but "I don't
want to ask where a .ppc.rpm is and wait for the answer" isn't really one
of them.
> Sometimes it is a struggle to get things built this way, but some things
> just build right the first time using the standard ./configure; make;
> make install; commands. Sometimes you have to add a soft link to get the
> configure or build to work correctly. In a few cases a patch must be
> applied to get the build to work.
And if you're not familiar with rpm you might find that frustrating.
But IMHO rpm's conveniences far outweigh its inconveniences. Look at it
this way: if rpm were so bad then no one would have ever switched from
tarballs. :)
-Hollis
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