Re: how to use rpm in debian
Mathias Peters wrote:
> first of all, i'm not subscribed, so please cc me to
> eMPy_@t-online.de. thanks.
Let me suggest including a
Mail-Followup-To: debian-user@lists.debian.org, eMPy_@t-online.de
header in your email so that people responding will automatically be
directed to do what you wish? See my message here for an example. Of
course I would also specifically request it too just to be sure.
There are a lot of poor mailers in use out there.
> i need to install the db2 v8.1 personal edition on debian. the
> tar-file i got on ibm.com only produced some rpms that are installed
> via install-skript, so i can't use alien. does anybody know how to
> install the rpm package database on debian or how to install db2
> somehow else?
First I am not familiar at all with db2 from ibm.com. So I can only
talk in general terms. Is this free software such that others could
help with your install problems? Or is it commercial only? If free
then there will be lots of help. If commercial then is there any
ability to ask the vendor to support Debian directly?
Regardless please ask the vendor to support LSB (Linux Standards Base)
compliant packages which support all LSB conforming systems.
Standards are a good thing.
I always hate it when people put an installer around an installer.
That is, install scripts around rpm. It overly complicates things.
Creating LSB compliant packages is much better.
I have always found it possible to install applications no matter how
convoluted their installation might be. I work in the CAD/EDA
industry and trust me some vendors have very tangled installation
processes. But that means that if the vendor made it hard to install
that it will be hard to install. You can't make a silk purse out of a
pigs ear. But hard does not mean you can't install it. Please do
make the attempt to do so. I think you will find a little effort will
be rewarded with a successful installation and you will also be better
off by knowing more about the software you are installing.
You might have to take the package apart piece by piece and install it
by knowing what it is doing inside. This is not terribly difficult.
You say it has a script installer. Which means the processes of the
script can be debugged. If you look at the installation script can
you deduce what it is trying to do and then do those same things
yourself? The complexity can vary greatly here. Some scripts are
very easy and some are very hard and everything in between exists
too.
For example, let me guess that the script is deducing the type of
system you have and installing with rpm the matching .rpm files. If
that is all it is doing then you can alien convert the .rpm files and
install them yourself. And there are other possibilities.
Sometimes vendor applications which use installer scripts then munge
the installed files with the script. They set up /full/install/paths
and other such things. By looking at the script can you tell if that
is happening here? If so then you can run or replicate that section
of the script yourself to finish the installation.
Also, I really hate suggesting this, but some people have had _okay_
results by creating an rpm database just for the purpose of installing
vendor applications in situations such as yours. I would NEVER do
this for core system components such as commands or libraries. But
for optional modules which bolt onto the side of your system and have
no overlap with anything else on your system then perhaps this is a
compromise. But I certainly would not do it blindly as it can really
mess up your system. Doing an rpm install in a chroot area is
reasonably safe. Then you can see what is installed and transfer that
to your real system.
If you looked at your .rpm files with 'rpm -pqlv' and 'rpm -pq
--scripts' you could deduce what is inside the rpm and make a
determination as to whether it overlaps with your system functionality
or not. Knowing that one could tell what options might work better
than others.
These are just general hints. Dig into the problem and please report
back to the mailing list your results. With more information I might
be able to give more specific suggestions.
Bob
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