* Billie Erin Walsh
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/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org