Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (4626 mails)

[Patrick Shanahan <ptilopteri@xxxxxxxxx>]

* Billie Erin Walsh <bilwalsh@xxxxxxxxxx> [01-14-07 23:47]:
 [...]
> The major differences I see are the file structure and how you
> install something. I have no clue where stuff is on the hard drives,
> [ there's bits, pieces, and copies of stuff all over the place ] but
> then I don't have to. The computer keeps track of all that stuff.
> Software installation is a whole other can of worms. There ain't a
> whole lot of standardization sometimes. RPM's are pretty much a no
> brainer, most of the time. Tar balls on the other hand. Well, lets
> just say ya better find that "readme" in there somewhere.


If using an rpm-based distro, searching for and reading the 'README' in
a tar ball is definitely not enough.  A tar ball install procedure
knows nothing of the rpm structure and database and vice versa. 
Installing from tar ball will corrupt your rpm-based system, altering
file structure and replacing/removing files necessary to other
applications, perhaps to the point of a failed system.

At the very least, when installing a tar ball, checkinstall should be
employed, UNLESS YOU ARE VERY KNOWLEDGABLE ABOUT LINUX STRUCTURE.

-- 
Patrick Shanahan                        Registered Linux User #207535
http://wahoo.no-ip.org                        @ http://counter.li.org
HOG # US1244711         Photo Album:  http://wahoo.no-ip.org/gallery2
        OpenSUSE Linux             http://en.opensuse.org/
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