Just out of curiosity, why did Debian decide to use a .deb package format, as opposed to, say, a "debian_control" file inside the .tar archive? So far as I can see:
PROS: ".deb" format allows easy ID of packages that can be installed on Debian systems. CONS: Cannnot use the Debianized package without dpkg. Difficult to "unDebianize". Twice the effort of maintenance - either developer must release two versions or a separate (and possibly out-of-synch) package maintainer must be recruited. Using the universally (well, Unixversally) supported .tar standard has only one con that I can see - you have to at least use "tar -t" to see if the package has been Debianized. This seems a small price to pay to avoid the other disadvantages. Sincerely, Ray Ingles (810) 377-7735 [EMAIL PROTECTED] If all the muscles in your body pulled in the same direction, you could lift over twenty tons. But you'd walk funny. - L. M. Boyd -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] .
