Ubuntu

Installing rpm packages on ubuntu

Asked by Vijay

Hi,

    I am interested to know whether its okay to install rpm packages into ubuntu. I have tried to do that and most times am finding a lot of dependencies which is required. I came across alien to convert rpm to deb. But am wondering when I have the rpm command installed, why not install an rpm directly onto ubuntu rather than converting it to deb using alien. Please correct me if am mistaken. Please give me your ideas about the same.

Thanks and Regards,
-vijay

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Alan Pope 🍺🐧🐱 🦄 (popey) said : 		#1

There are a few problems with doing this. You wont get any automatic updates for the package, including security updates. There is (as you mention) no dependency resolution, so you have to manually fix those, which could break later as dependencies change. As it says at:-

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RPM/AlienHowto

"Note that this is not the recommended way to install packages in Ubuntu. If at all possible, install from Ubuntu's repositories using apt-get or Synaptic, or get a .deb file instead of an RPM. RPMs should be a last resort."

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richardh9935 (richardh9935) said : 		#2

Good to have a nice, clear, assertive answer like this.

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