[Malvern] Fedora 4

[Richard Forster]

Geoff Bagley wrote:
> 
> I used to use RPM in my SuSE days,  but I really like apt-get.



Grrrrrr!!! Geoff, you should know better than this.

(Now I think this is right, but even if the details are off the gist is 
true.)

There is a packaging format called RPM, the files end in .rpm
There is another packaging format whose files end in .deb
They are broadly functionally similar.

There is a program called rpm which handles installation, removal, 
verification etc of software in rpm format. It cannot resolve dependency 
issues but can report them.
There is another program called dpkg which handles installation and 
removal etc of software in deb format. It cannot resolve dependency 
issues either[1].


apt-get is a program which can resolve dependencies and download the 
right software for your system.
On a debian box apt-get calls dpkg which installs the .debs
On a fedora box apt-get calls rpm (the program) which installs the .rpms 
(the files)
yum is another program which can resolve dependencies and download the 
right software for your system in much the same way as apt-get[2].

To use apt-get to check for and install any necessary updates to your 
system you type apt-get update; apt-get upgrade
To use yum to check for and install any necessary updates to your system 
you type yum update

You can even install both yum and apt-get on the same system (just don't 
run both at the exact same time).


I usually use yum because it involves less typing. No other reason.


There also exist other packaging formats and other dependency resolution 
programs. I leave their relative merits as an exercise for the reader.



Cheers

Rick


[1] This is the only part I'm not 100% on, but I found this source: 
comment 6 on 
http://www.newlinuxuser.com/howto-use-dpkg-to-install-deb-files/

[2] Though, to be fair, yum is not known to have Super Cow Powers.