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On Wed, 2002-11-20 at 15:42, Thomas Mondoshawan Tate wrote:
> RPM used to be a cpio based archive (RPM v1-3, I believe) -- now it's gon=
e
> to a nearly proprietary format entirely. The only way to access and creat=
e
> these packages is with the rpm tools and libraries RH created.

proprietary --

adj : protected by trademark or patent or copyright; made or produced or
distributed by one having exclusive rights; "`Tylenol' is a proprietary
drug of which `acetaminophen' is the generic form"

I would hardly call a format that is documented, has an implementation
that is GPL'd, has free documentation on the format on the web, and is
used in several different distributions proprietary.  The only thing
you've argued is that it is a new format.  And that doesn't even make it
bad.

> DEBs, on the other hand, are really nothing more than ar archives with tw=
o
> files in them: control.tar.gz and data.tar.gz. The control tarball contai=
ns
> the various shell scripts to be run for pre/post installation/removal, wh=
ile
> data.tar.gz contains the actual installation files.

That is very interesting.  I like the way that they used other formats.=20
But: How do Debain files handle PGP signatures?  Can they be embedded?=20
What about subpackages?

		Thanks for the info,
			Ted

PS - I was looking at the book "Maximum RPM" and I specifically liked
the dedication:=20

To Deb =97 My lover, editor, indexer, and friend=85=20
To Matt, who heard "Daddy can't play right now" far too often=85=20

Ironic that the guy who writes an RPM book had a wife named 'deb' :)

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