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Unit 7: Installing Software

7.5 summary notes

The RPM Package Manager is a powerful command line driven package management system
capable of installing, uninstalling, verifying, querying, and updating computer software
packages. Packages come in two varieties: binary packages, used to encapsulate software to
be installed, and source packages, containing the source code and recipe necessary to produce
binary packages. GnoRPM is a graphical front end to the RPM package management system.
It runs under X, like Redhat’s Glint, but is written in C, and uses the GTK+ widget set and the
Gnome Libraries. GnoRPM allows the end-user to easily work with RPM technology; it is fast,
powerful and features a friendly interface. If a program is not packaged, it will usually come as a
compressed archive. The archive may contain source code, precompiled binaries, and/or scripts.
All of these will need to be installed before they can be run. Source code will need to be compiled.
Precompiled binaries and scripts will just need to be installed into the correct locations. Most
developers provide README or INSTALL files in the program archive. These are text files that
include instructions on compiling and installing the program.

7.6 keywords

Binary RPM Package: One kind of RPM package which is used to encapsulate software to be
installed.
GnoRPM: It is a graphical front end to the RPM package management system.
RPM Package Manager: It is a powerful command line driven package management system
capable of installing, uninstalling, verifying, querying, and updating computer software
packages.
Source RPM Package: One kind of RPM package which contains the source code and recipe
necessary to produce binary packages.

7.7 self assessment

Fill in the blanks:
1. The full form of RPM is .......................
2. The Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) is an ....................... packaging system

3. Many distributions support RPM packages, among them one is .......................
4. ....................... is a graphical front end to the RPM package management system.
5. Gnome-RPM was written by .......................
6. An RPM package consists of an archive of files and ....................... used to install and erase
the archive files.
7. ....................... in packages are preserved across upgrades, so you won’t lose your
customizations.

8. GnoRPM allows the ....................... to easily work with RPM technology.
9. Linux provides a developer’s utility called .......................
10. RPM checks to see if any configuration files would be ....................... by the installation of
this package.

11. When a package is installed, the installer checks whether the other ....................... the
program will need are present.

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