RedHat package compatibility [was Re: debmake & dpkg]
Christoph Lameter <clameter@waterf.org> writes:
> - multi format dpkg so that it can install RPM or Slackware packages
> without conversion.
I thought I'd finally say something that I've been thinking for a
while.
RedHat package installation compatibility seems to me a total red
herring. It is not a good idea. If there are packages that we need
that are only availble for RedHat that we need, we should just make
Debian versions.
There are real dangers involved in pretending that you can just
install RedHat packages on a Debian system. Unless RedHat used the
same init script structure, the same /etc structure, etc. You are
likely to end up with packages with partially or seriously broken
functionality. This will not do wonders for Debian's image.
What if we provide this functionality, do we want to deal with the
headaches when people start posting
"I just tried 'install-rpm sysvinit.rpm' on my new debian box, and now
it won't boot. You said I could install RedHat packages."
Don't laugh. If we make it look like it should work, someone will try
it.
If there are RedHat packages that we can't debianize (because they
have commercial binaries or whatever), then we should take the
netscape package approach, providing a helper package that unpacks the
RedHat package somewhere and then installs the files making whatever
modifications are needed to debianize the resulting install.
I just think that advertizing something that's bound not to work right
in many cases, and could be potentially dangerous is a bad idea.
That said, I'm not at all opposed to tools that make it easier to
convert a RedHat package to a debian package. I just don't think it's
easy enough to be an automatic process.
Maybe I don't understand RedHat well enough...
--
Rob
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