[NTLUG:Discuss] Things You Can Do With Packaging Tools...

[A.L.Lambert]

> > > 	From what I understand, deb's will allow running of scripts
> > > before install to shut down services, and after to re-start them. It
> > > also has a inteligent way of comparing the config files to determine
> > > if it needs to ask you which version of the files you want to keep if
> > > they are different.  I am sure rpm's do some of the same, but I
> > > understand that debs do a better job.
> > 
> > 	Yeah, that's all stuff you can easily do with RPM's if you know
> > the bare basics of shell scripting, and actually read the documentation on
> > what all the *.spec file syntax can do.  It's like anything else I
> > suppose; it's all easy if you know how to do it. :)
> 
> The problem is that there are so many cruddy *.spec files out there that
> _don't_ do this.

	Yeah, I suppose, although out of a few gazillion RPM/SRPM's I've
downloaded/played with in my time, I've only run across maybe 20 or 30
that were really badly done (and virtually none of those were "mainstream"
apps).

> And that there is little agreed on policy of what sorts of services
> _should_ be set up, and how.

	Now don't get me started on the evils of the slippery slope
entailed by the word "policy".  :)  Policy is one of those things that's
good to a rather limited point, and after that turns decidedly negative.
(IMHO).

> The "win" with .debs is that after running them through lintian, you
> may get a number of suggestions of "what to fix to make it better," as
> well as having some more clearly agreed-on conventions of where stuff
> should go.

	Rpmlint seems to do more/less the same thing.

<snipped from /usr/doc/rpmlint-0.8/README>

rpmlint idea comes from the lintian tool of the Debian project.

Comments and new checks welcome. Send feedback to
<flepied at mandrakesoft.com>.

Implemented checks:

        o tags checks (TagsCheck)
        o Distribution specific checks (MandrakeCheck)
        o binaries checks (BinaryCheck)
        o configuration files checks (ConfigCheck)
        o locations, permissions, groups and owners checks (FileCheck)
        o suid warnings (FileCheck)
        o pgp checks (SignatureCheck)
        o FHS checks (FHSCheck)
        o Source specific checks (SourceCheck)
        o i18n checks (I18NCheck).

</snipped>

	Anyway; I am definitely NOT trying to bash *.deb's or Debian in
general; I actually quite like Debian (used to run it on my home box until
I got so deep into RedHat at work that I got tired of keeping track of two
different distributions in my life).  Just my $00.02.

	Cheers!

-- A.L.Lambert