RPM

[Temlakos]

On Thu, 2004-12-16 at 14:59 +0100, delir!um wrote:
> Hi everybody,
> 
> I would like to know what RPM is? I wanted to download Java Console and
> I had the possibility to choose between RPM packages and normal
> packages. What is the difference?

RPM originally stood for Red-Hat Package Management. Now I think it's
one of those--what do you call 'em--regressive names: "RPM Package
Management." It is the preferred way to distribute packages of already-
built programs, or "binaries," in Red Hat-style distros, like Fedora
Core, RHEL, Mandrake, and a host of others.

If Java is calling something a "normal" package, they probably mean a
*tar ball.* That's a package that has a configuration script and a
*makefile* that uses the "make" command to compile, link, and then
install the program on your system.

If you're using Fedora Core--as I assume you are--then RPM packages will
work. To find out how, open up a terminal window and type "man rpm."
Typically you run "rpm -U such-and-such.rpm" to install something. (You
can use the -i flag if you are absolutely sure that no such package
exists on your system when you start. If you're not sure, or if you know
you're actually upgrading, use the -U. It works every time. You can also
add "v" for "verbose" and "h" for "hash marks" if you want an ASCII-
artful display of how far along you are in the installation. The full
form of the command would then be "rpm -Uvh such-and-such.rpm".)

To *remove* an RPM-based package, type "rpm -e such-and-such".

To ask the system which version of the package you have on board, type
"rpm -q such-and-such".

I can't decide, personally, which is better: RPM or tar balls. Tar balls
require a bit more effort to install, because after you unpack them
(typically as "tar -xf such-and-such.tar" or "tar -zxf such-and-
such.tar.gz"), you have to issue three separate commands, and to do it
you have to change to the new directory that the unpack operation
creates. These three commands are:

./configure (because the current working directory is *not* part of your
executable path, unlike some other less-secure OS's which shall remain
nameless). If this command returns any errors, then you need to figure
out how to address the deficiencies that you see reported. But if it
doesn't report any errors, then you run these other two commands:

make

make install

And if you want to take a tar-based program off your system, go back to
this directory (and hope you haven't removed it) and type:

make clean

And then you can, in theory, wipe everything out by typing

make distclean

The composition of makefiles and configure scripts is not your
responsibility. The developer needs to do that. I use an IDE that writes
all those scripts whenever I modify my program in any way.

> Any idea whether there are drivers for my graphic card - ATI Mobility
> Radeon 9700? Or any idea where I could find it out, so I can quit
> bothering you?

Try my favorite gambit: search Google (http://www.google.com/) with the
search phrase "ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 Linux" and see what pops up.
Google is generally pretty good about sorting pages with the most
relevant finds first. I use Mozilla (haven't switched to Firefox yet),
and the version I use has a Search function that uses Google for its
searching. (The Fedora Core I version of Mozilla uses Netscape Search.
Kudos to the Mozilla Foundation for figuring out when someone else does
a better job. That's the beauty of open-source development: software
developed *by* users *for* users. No kickbacks, no sweetheart deals, and
the bundling, if any, is what makes sense *for you.*)

FYI, I have an ATI Radeon 7200 on my system, and Fedora Core 2 had the
drivers for it and installed it straight out-of-the-box. If that's not
true of the Mobility Radeon 9700, then I return to my previous
suggestion: search for it. If anyone has a separate driver for that
card, and they offer it on the Web, Google will find it. That's another
beauty of Linux: maybe you have to search a hundred places to find the
drivers for *your* particular components, but at least you *can* find
them. With Windows, if M$ hasn't signed the appropriate "co-marketing
agreements" with the vendor of any particular video card, you're out of
luck. But with Linux--well, if it's not available now, it will become
available soon enough. Only rarely have I seen this fail.
-- 
Temlakos <temlakos at comcast.net>