Differences between version 20 and predecessor to the previous major change of PackageManagementTool.
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| Newer page: | version 20 | Last edited on Monday, February 2, 2004 3:27:28 pm | by AristotlePagaltzis | Revert |
| Older page: | version 12 | Last edited on Saturday, July 12, 2003 3:46:14 pm | by AristotlePagaltzis | Revert |
@@ -1,21 +1,15 @@
-There are several main 'flavours'
of PackageManagementTool in use in various LinuxDistributions
. These include:
+Most [PackageManagementTool]s revolve around binary distributions
of [Package]s. That is, they consult a repository of pre-compiled packages and install the package best suited to your system architecture. They may also offer source packages, allowing you to build the [Package] locally with whatever patches and optimization or configuration options you may have chosen. Other [
PackageManagementTool]s are source based - they may not even provide binary [Package]s at all, but at least try really hard to avoid them
. These download the sources for a [Package], apply any vendor-provided patches, then compile on the local machine. This process takes considerably longer, but some people swear it gives them much better performance. It does have the advantage that you can taylor the system very closely to your desires, but is not much fun on slow machines, particularly for the desktop where such mammoths as [GNOME], [KDE], [Mozilla], and [OpenOffice] are waiting to occupy your machine for hours on end.
-;
''rpm''
: Redhat
Package Manager. Obviously, RedHat uses this, but [Mandrake] and a handful of others do as well.
-; ''
dpkg''
: This is [Debian]'s package manager.
[Knoppix
], [Progeny] and other LinuxDistributions
are "Debian-based".
-; ''
.tgz''
: [Slackware] uses [TarBall]s that include pre-
and post install scripts
.
-; ''
ports''
: This is the source based PackageManagementTool that [BSD] uses. Several LinuxDistributions
use a similar idea.
-; ''
portage''
: [GentooLinux]' version of source based PackageManagement, driven by a tool called ''
emerge''
.
-; ''
spells''
: SorcererLinux
has a 'spell book' approach to source based PackageManagement.
+There are several main
'flavours
' of PackageManagementTool in use in various LinuxDistribution. These include:
+
+; __
rpm__
: RedHat [
Package]
Manager. Obviously, RedHat uses this, but [Mandrake] and a handful of others do as well. File format is [RPM]
.
+; __
dpkg__
: This is [Debian]'s [Package
] manager. KnoppixLinux
, [Progeny] and other [LinuxDistribution]s
are "Debian-based" and thus use this as well. File format is [Deb]
.
+; __
.tgz__
: [Slackware] uses nearly plain
[TarBall]s that include a description
and a postinstall script
.
+; __
ports__
: This is the source based PackageManagementTool that [BSD] uses. Several [LinuxDistribution]s
use a similar idea.
+; __
portage__
: [GentooLinux]' version of source based PackageManagement, driven by a tool called __
emerge__
.
+; __
spells__
: Sorceror Linux
has a 'spell book' approach to source based PackageManagement.
Frontends to these tools include:
-; ''
up2date''
: a front-end to rpm provided by RedHat. You get to use it on one machine per user free, and can pay for the right to use it on more machines. It's probably worth it for most users, as it makes installing new software and keeping up with upgrades really easy.
-; ''apt''
: one of the best tools around that
traditionally wraps dpkg, although
there is a version that works for rpm
. It was the first front-end to nicely handle dependencies: ''
apt-get install foo''
will automatically download and install not only ''
foo''
, but also any unfulfilled dependencies ''
foo''
may have.
-
-----
-
-I personally have used RedHat (rpm), [Debian] (dpkg / apt), and [Gentoo|GentooLinux] ('portage' -- emerge). Of the three, RedHat rates worst for me, because I never really used up2date and so started getting annoyed with dependency hell. Debian and Gentoo
are about the same in terms
of ease of installation of a new application / upgrading packages, however Gentoo takes an age longer due to having to compile everything from source.
--DanielLawson
-
-----
-
-Still that can hardly be construed as a drawback since the people who choose Gentoo do so precisely ''because'' it compiles everything from source
. Certainly, it may have been a drawback for ''you'', but that doesn't make it one in the general case. Everyone will have to examine their needs themselves. --AristotlePagaltzis
+; __
up2date__
: a front-end to rpm provided by RedHat. You get to use it on one machine per user free, and can pay for the right to use it on more machines. It's probably worth it for most users, as it makes installing new software and keeping up with upgrades really easy.
+; __[APT]__
: one of the best tools around. It
traditionally wraps dpkg, but
there is an AptForRpm variant now (and rapidly gaining popularity)
. It was the first front-end to nicely handle dependencies: __
apt-get install foo__
will automatically download and install not only __
foo__
, but also any unfulfilled dependencies __
foo__
may have. There
are lots
of supplemental utilities surrounding
-- see DebianPackageTools
.
