Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (4626 mails)

[J Sloan <joe@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Patrick Shanahan wrote:
> * 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.

While this is technically true, the fact is that any official suse rpm
packages install binaries in /usr/bin, /usr/sbin, etc. OTOH, tarball builds
inevitably default to installing binaries in /usr/local/bin, /usr/local/sbin,
etc, so there is no collision. According to old unix traditions, /usr/local is
where non-vendor stuff is installed.

Joe
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