Operating Systems > Linux and UNIX
Adding Packages - RedHat 7.3
Calum:
okay, but my main wishlist feature is not the one where it autodownloads stuff for me, i am happy for it to inform me what else i need to get however i have two beefs with the current system:
1) i get a list of dependencies. example, now i have got and installed xpm, i still have to resolve three dependencies to install wine. They are all filename.so so how am i going to find them? do they come in rpms? do i have to find out which other app provides these and install that? The dependencies as i see them are listed in a format i am unable to actually search for in real life.
2) Say i want to install a DVD player, but i currently have no multimedia stuff installed. There will be maybe 12 dependencies. I could get all of those rpms for all twelve of those programs. So now, each of those has between six and ten dependencies of its own! some of those are duplicates, and some depend on each other! there must be some correct order to install them in! there must be some way to find out if you do have all the files you need before embarking on an installfest!
the rpm database only extends by a length of one dependency. I would like a database that resolves every arm on each dependency family tree.
Sometimes this dependencies thing is really dumb. I have snes9x for windows. It does not depend on anything. It takes binary files ripped from Super Nintendo cartridges and emulates the original games. I also have snes9x for linux. sadly i do not know what it does since it depends on four other things! even the nintendo emulator depends on four things! i have a 99kb standalone nintendo emulator for windows, it has NO other files of its own, need not be installed and can be run from any directory including a floppy. Why can this not be implemented in linux?
I just think this could be cleaned up a bit better.
I downloaded the demo of uplink recently for linux. eight dependencies. I found four online and then gave up (couldn't match the version numbers), so i downloaded the windows version. Runs fine. Pretty sad really, that i'm lowered to playing what games i do play on windows, even though i know they run in linux.
Anyway i have harped on about this for much too long, those are my thoughts, i am sure rpm is excellent however it does not address the immediate issues in my opinion.
voidmain:
I agree that some of your examples can be a pain in the arse but can be easily resolved with an appropriate interface such as Red Carpet or what I am hoping to see from RedHat 8.0. I usually have no trouble matching up those specific library names by a simple query to http://www.rpmfind.net/ which does spit out the appropriate RPM package name and thus contains the database you are wishing for.
For some of those cases it might just be easier to get the *.src.rpm and do an "rpm --rebuild file.src.rpm", which also may not have satisfied dependencies. Because there are many different Linux versions and distros, standardizing software installation can be difficult, however it get's better all the time. It has never been so much of an issue for me that I ever had even the slightest thought of going back to Windows.
All I can say is, things keep getting better and I fully expect that trend to continue. You might voice your opinions to all the major distro vendors although I am sure they are hearing you already.
Calum:
you say a lot of encouraging things, and i think that maybe a lot of my frustration comes from not knowing how to work rpm properly.
here's hoping red hat will do what you say.
Doogee:
hey voidmain im trying to install the developments tools from the 3 redhat CDs cos i dint think i need them but i need the compilers and stuff, eg java c c++ gcc stuff like that, i would also like to get into writing my own programs in C or C++ but thats not my top priority atm.
sporkme:
...i have found that mandrake is very good at this, and if i need a rpm i just google it.
there should be a clearer standard, granted, but it's no emergency. it tells you exactly what is missing.
edit: i guess that i have always found it quite simple, with a little reading and a dash of toying.
good luck!
[ September 25, 2002: Message edited by: sporkme / bob ]
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