initialize package database, etc.

["T.R.Y." <try@lyang.net>]

Hi,

I am experimenting dpkg and friends on redhat system
(packed dpkg-1.9.6 as an rpm and installed).
I would like to know how I can properly initialize package database
(i.e., get all needed file in place under /var/lib/dpkg) so that
this error can be avoided:

[root@foo bar]# dpkg --admindir=/var/lib/dpkg -l
dpkg: failed to open package info file `/var/lib/dpkg/status' for reading: No such file or directory

A run of
[root@foo bar]# touch /var/lib/dpkg/status
seems to solve this problem.

But there must be a more elegant way to do this.
Specifically I am looking for a counterpart of

# rpm --initdb --dbpath /var/lib/rpm

Or even better, does anyone know a URL that has
a comparison chart of dpkg and rpm command line tricks (actions/options)?

Does dpkg do a trick similar to
# rpm -qa --last

Thanks,

-T