Re: tlug: Package converter

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <turnbull@example.com>]

>>>>> "Scott" == Scott Stone <sstone@example.com> writes:

    Scott> does [alien] do a good job of rpm <-> deb ?  I've heard of this
    Scott> package, but never actually used it myself.  It seems like
    Scott> it would be complicated to convert all the required

The subject is wrong, it's not a "converter" (you can't really
interoperate mutually dependent Red Hat and Debian packages); it's a
front end with a little bit of smarts about all the different package
managers.

    Scott> dependencies, etc, since rpm and deb do them a little
    Scott> differently.  ie, if a .deb package 'requires' foo and
    Scott> 'recommends' bar, what do the .rpm dependencies look like
    Scott> after conversion?

I really wouldn't recommend using it in a context with substantial
dependencies; there are a lot of other problems for complex packages
(especially handling configure stuff like boot scripts) that are more
important, IMO.

What is done, as far as I can tell, is to simply provide a single
front end that allows your Red Hat package database to know that
Debian packages are installed, but all the dependency stuff is handled
by dpkg.

Of course, I see it exactly the other way around: I use it for is
installing simple RPMs in a way that permits them to be excised
without trace (if I'm lucky; RPMs tend to be less careful about
cleanup than .debs in my experience) when the Debian package becomes
available.

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