Making an RPM Distribution play nicely with ./configure && make && make install packages

[Roger Oberholtzer]

On Fri, 2004-03-05 at 18:14, Tim Wunder wrote:
> On 3/5/2004 11:03 AM, I believe that Roger Oberholtzer wrote:
> 
> > On Sat, 06 Mar 2004 02:19:35 +1100
> > James McDonald <james at jamesmcdonald.id.au> wrote:
> > 
> > 
> >>I use Redhat Fedora Core 1. I have installed apt4rpm and done the usual 
> >>apt-get upgrade etc. So once you get to that stage you then have to 
> >>compile from source to get 'the latest'.
> >>
> >>Typically I also install packages that I don't bother to role into an 
> >>rpm but they are required by other components I want to install via rpm 
> >>/ apt-get.
> >>
> >>How do you tell apt-get / rpm to either ignore that it can't see the 
> >>package in it's database or update the rpm database with the package 
> >>despite it wasn't installed via rpm?
> > 
> > 
> > gentoo ... Gentoo ... GENTOO
> > 
> 
> I'm fairly ignorant on other package management systems used by non-rpm 
> distros, slackware, gentoo, debian. I'm fairly familiar with how rpm 
> works and believe apt to be similar, a database tracks what's installed. 
> Is gentoo different? Slackware?

Gentoo deals with dependencies very well. It uses sandboxes to make
things so it ALWAYS knows what will be installed, not depending on a
list or makefile. Also, it compiles from source on your system. This
really helps lessen library conflicts. If I wanted the latest  firefin,
I would type:

	emerge firebird

It will get all needed parts that are not installed as part of doing
this. I need not worry. It also has a concept of stable and non-stable
releases. You can decide what you want. It you are curious if anything
you have installed has a newer version, you would:

	emerge rsync		(update concept of what is 'out there')

	emerge -up world	(tell me what is new. But don't do 
					anything about it. Remove the 
					-p and it will update.)

'world' is what you have already installed. Not everything out there.

It works quite well. Since it is compiled locally, my preferences are
used. So, if I want any packages that use ALSA to have that enabled, I
set 'alsa' once in a global config file. Each package checks these to
see how to set flags. So, the maintainer of the package makes the
connection between Gentoo's variables and what the specific package
wants to make that happen. I need not sort that out. Everything you have
installed is compiled how you want it, not how it was made for some RPM.
Still, the package's config method is used. Gentoo does not make a new
compilation system for each package. That would be a real drag. Instead,
it maps your wished to the package.


> Can I just install a program from source and gentoo will not try to 
> "update" it with an older package?
> Say I decide to install KDE 3.2.1 from source. configure, make, and make 
> install. I then do an 'emerge kde' (or whatever it is...) Will gentoo 
> try to install kde 3.2.0 because that's what it thinks is the latest 
> version? How's that work?
> 
> Thanks,
> Tim
> 
> 
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