At 11:07 AM 7/22/02 +0100, geoff wrote: >I am considering getting a copy of the new Debian 3.0 release, but I >understand that they >use "deb" rather than "rpm" for package installation. > >Please can anyone on the list who has made the transition from rpm to deb >tell me >how they got on ? Is the deb system as easy and as convenient as rpm ?
I can't really answer your question, since I never used .rpm (I moved to Debian from Slackware). Having used Debian for several years now, I can tell you that the .deb-based system is quite convenient to use, once you get over a modest learning curve. That is, package management with apt-get and aptcache is quite convenient; dpkg is a bit clunkier, but you should find that you do not need to use it often. Your biggest problem in moving to Debian is likely not to be the package manager but the (small) number of free (in some sense) packages not available in .deb form. Although there are not many of these packages, if you need any of them, you'll have to install them yourself (either from .tgz files or from the unofficial .deb packages some sites offer). It also looks to me like distributors of commercial software are still more likely to offer .rpm packages of their applications than .deb packages. This doesn't affect me but may be a consideration for you. -- -----------------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"-------------- Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo Palo Alto, California, USA [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-newbie" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.linux-learn.org/faqs
