On Sat, 22 Dec 2001, Tom Rauschenbach wrote: > I downloaded a package ( kisocd-0.6.3) and tried to compile it. When it > wouldn't , I returned to its web page to find that sure enough it won't build > with autoconf 2.5 which is of course what I have.
As others have said, your best bet (since you have been avoiding RPM) is to continue avoiding RPM, download the source to the autoconf that kisocd wants, and install that. What's one more package? :) > So I downloaded the rpm. I have never used rpm before. It complains > that there are a bunch of missing dependencies, most of which I'm sure I > have. If they were not installed via RPM, RPM will generally not know about them. > Do I need to build this data base ? An RPM database is "built" by installing RPMs. So, no. > Would --force work as well ? No. Don't use the "--force" switch. I see lots of people saying they "--force" things all the time. These are usually the same people that complain that package managers don't work. They don't realize they are creating their own problems. When you --force something, you invalidate the RPM database. You are telling RPM to go ahead and do it anyway, even though things are not right. The result is a system that may work, sometimes, for some things, but eventually degenerates into a unordered mess of unstable packages, none of which are correctly configured. Binary packages are *very* dependent on their build environment. That is why RPM (and other dependency managers) are so picky about what you have installed. Even things like files being located in different paths can break a binary package. Realize that "Works" and "Broken" are not binary states. A program can run, and even appear to do what you want, but it can still have a failure waiting to happen when it tries to load some file it expects to be in /usr/local but is actually stored in /opt. In short, RPMs (and DEBs, and the like) are more than just glorified tarchives. For them to work right, you have to use them right. The practical upshot for you is that, unless you want to start retro-fitting your system with RPMs for software that you have already installed, your best bet is to continue managing your software yourself. -- Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | ***************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *****************************************************************
