Re: how to add rpm ?

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To: Nguyen Dinh Kien <nguyendinhkien@gmail.com>, For users of Fedora Core releases <fedora-list@redhat.com>
Date: Fri, 05 Nov 2004 08:27:44 -0500

On Fri, 2004-11-05 at 03:36, Nguyen Dinh Kien wrote:
> I have install Fc2 from NFS. But how can i add more rpm packages now?
> I can't do this by using start/System settings/Add/Remove
> applications. Thank so much.

Get yourself a good installation of "apt for rpm." Try this link:

http://download.fedora.us/fedora/fedora/2/i386/RPMS.stable/

Look for the package that begins with "apt-0.5.15" and ends with the
letters "rpm." Download that to an easy-to-find directory (I prefer my
Desktop myself), then start a Terminal window, issue the command "su",
type your root password, and then execute the command:

rpm -Uvh apt-*.rpm

(You can use rpm -ivh apt-*.rpm instead. I prefer U, just in case. -i
means "install new," whereas -U means "upgrade, or install if it's not
already present.")

Once that's done, issue the command

apt-get update

This will take you to a first-time-user "wizard." Follow its
instructions to the letter. This should install the various apt commands
and a "mirror select list." Don't edit this. Instead,

ch /etc/apt/sources.list.d

and create in that directory a file that you can call, say,
"addlrepos.list". Apt will recognize all files in sources.list.d as
legitimate lists of repositories, so long as you obey the formatting
rules. Then, to find entries to put into it, try this link:

http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2198

Read the information you find there; I have found it the best way to
install apt-for-rpm on my system. *Make sure you install every GPG key
they mention.* In fact, I wouldn't use any repository, beyond the
fedora.us and kernel.org repositories, that does not have its own GPG
key. Those two that I named have keys available as part of the
distribution; you probably need to run this command:

rpm --import /usr/share/doc/fedora-release-2/RPM-GPG-KEY*

in order to install them. Don't bother with the Matthew Hall repository;
that seems to fail all the time. Regarding the at-rpms repository, use
their at-stable and at-good lists. You can try the at-testing list if
you like; their idea of testing is about at the level of a Fedora Core
test release. Use the at-bleeding list at your own risk--and I emphasize
"risk."

Once you have all these repos listed, issue the command

apt-get update

one more time. Then type

apt-get upgrade

This will upgrade all existing packages on your system. In fact, if
you've done this right, you'll even get Fedora Core upgrades.

Then, to make your apt experience as easy as it gets, issue the command

apt-get install synaptic

This will install Synaptic, the comprehensive GUI front-end for apt. It
lists every package on all your repositories and lets you choose which
ones to install or upgrade on your system or to remove from it. This is
vastly superior to "Add/Remove Applications," since the latter will
offer you only those packages that distribute with Fedora Core 2 on its
disks and ISO's--and you probably want to know about all the packages
that are available. I found a lot of libraries and development packages,
and even an IDE, that have been indispensable to me as a software
developer--in fact, they arguably got me started as one. Name
it--there's something for everyone.

The real beauty of apt-for-rpm is that if a package you want is
dependent on other packages, the apt system will automatically recommend
the installations or upgrades you need. It's not foolproof, but it's
better than simply trying to install an rpm using the rpm commands, only
to get a message about "failed dependencies" and then have to start
looking for this package and that package, etc. There's a vulgar phrase,
that I won't repeat here, for the stress that you can cause yourself by
trying to chase down those dependencies and resolve them on your own,
not to mention the valuable time you waste doing that. Use every tool
that can resolve those dependencies for you! I have found apt and
Synaptic to be the best; others swear by yum. (The up2date command is a
little less reliable, but I have found a good solution for it. In any
event, I use it these days only to alert me to a needed update; I have
found that, with the repos I have listed, Synaptic can handle all my
update and upgrade tasks all by itself.)

This illustrates the beauty of open-source software in general,
actually. Apt was originally the package management system for Debian.
Then, the distributors of Connectiva (sp?), another rpm-based distro,
"ported" apt to the rpm environment. They could do this because the
inventors of Debian released apt under GPL. I really believe, contrary
to the reviewers at DistroWatch, that apt-for-rpm has repaired the rpm
system's worst major defect.

Temlakos

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