Differences between version 3 and revision by previous author of Package.
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| Newer page: | version 3 | Last edited on Thursday, September 25, 2003 3:25:55 am | by AristotlePagaltzis | Revert |
| Older page: | version 1 | Last edited on Monday, September 1, 2003 9:40:57 pm | by CraigBox | Revert |
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-The grouping
of software and related metadata paraphenalia into
a single archive format
, often
[RPM
] or [Deb
], for release
.
+An archive containing a piece
of software (be that in binary or source form) as well as MetaData about that software. This is at least
a human readable description of the packaged software. In nearly all [Package] formats it also extends to a list of architectures the particular [Package] will run on
, and a list of other
[Package
]s are required in order for the software in this one to run correctly. These are called dependencies. Many [Package] formats also have provisions for storing a maintainer contact, a checksum and/
or a cryptographic signature of the
[Package
], its license, and more. Together, these pieces enable the PackageManagementTool to fulfill its PackageManagement duties
.
-Compare TarBall, which is simply a 'zip file' of the program. It'
s still officially a package format
.
+The two most common formats are [RPM] (invented by RedHat and used by most [LinuxDistribution]
s) and [Deb] (designed for [Debian]; obviously also used by [Debian]-derived [LinuxDistribution]s)
.
-A
[Distribution
] tends to be made up
of a pile
of packages
.
+[Slackware
] has the simplest a [Package] format: almost plain [TarBall]s of the installed software, the MetaData simply consisting
of a file with a description
of the package and a postinstall script. There is no information about dependencies. This is not necessarily a drawback; on simple setups (such as many dedicated servers use), the fact that no (corruptible) DataBase of installed [Package]s needs maintaining can be desirable
.
-(waits for Aristotle
to fix this one up real good like)
+A link
to a comparison of [Package] formats AsSeenOnSlashdot: http://www.kitenet.net/~joey/pkg-comp/
