Re: Packages

[Raul Miller <rdm@tad.micro.umn.edu>]

Alan Eugene Davis:
   dpkg is a pleasure to use on .deb packages; it would be wonderful
   if it were able to log in non-debian packages, and, likewise, if
   debian packages could be exported.  On the first, maybe a script
   would enable me to package up a tar file, add comments?

As I understand it, the adding odd files to a package mechanism is on
the todo list.  However, if you don't mind a couple minutes work you
can easily make your own "debian packages".  

For example, you could make a directory named slak-emacs, go into that
directory and untar the slackware emacs stuff.  Then, make the
directory slak-emacs/DEBIAN/ and put in it a file named 'control' with
the contents:

Package: slak-emacs
Version: 0
Maintainer: nobody
Description: emacs
Provides: emacs

[feel free to change the values around to your tastes.]

Then, in the parent directory type

dpkg-deb --build slak-emacs

and it will make you a .deb format file.  

Likewise, if you have a .deb format file you can unpack it in an empty
directory (use the --root= option to dpkg) then user tar to repack it.
You'll lose some information (the setup and cleanup scripts and
everything in the control file) but presumably you don't care about
this.

-- 
Raul