Putting a square peg into a round hole
I have recently installed Storm Linux and, on the who!e, I like it. One problem I’ve found, though, is that most software on the web is provided i O RPM format, not Debian packages. I can use the rpm command to install packages, but ı* Just returns vvith unfulfilled dependencies al i the time. Is there a way that I can install RpMs on Storm?
Eric Stirton, via email
The rpm command is a bit of blind alley as far as installing RPMs on DebiaH-based distros is concerned. İt is a useful command to have around, hovvever; for listinü the contents of RPMs and so on.
The best of vvay of tackling this problem is to convert the RPM packages into debs and tfien install them as normal. This is achieved vvith the tool alien, vvhich can be found on the Storm distro CD in the admin section. To convert a package called package.rpm, you vvill need to be logged in as root, and then assuming that the RPM is in your current directory, enter:
alien package.rpm ; ” /V gj
After some Processing, this vvill churn out a package called package.deb in the same directory. You can install this as per normal vvith dpk. T^e softvvare vvill be under the control of the pacK^ge management system as per usual and ali the dependencies vvill be taken care of. dpkg —instell – “y. ‘ – ‘ ’ – – – ; package.deb
While this method vvorks perfectly vvell, it is perhaps less than elegant. You should really consider building and installing softvvare from (he source code.
If you really vvant softvvare to be put under the package manager’s control, then, in most cas^s, it is not too difficult to create your ovvn Debian packages from a source tree. There are plenty of documentation and scripts to help you get the job done. Have a look at the Debian Packaging Manual vvhich should be supplıed on your distribution CD-ROM.