On Wed, 2005-07-20 at 10:21 -0700, BRUCE STANLEY wrote: > <snip> > Thanks James! That does clear it up a bit. > The man page on rpm is not clear on this. > I have even read 'threads' where 'PACKAGE-FILE' > and 'PACKAGE-NAME' seem to be used interchangeably. > > At what point on a rpm FILE name does the package > name end? > examples: > prodproductABC1.4.i386.rpm > prodproductABC1.4.noarnoarch > prodproductABCelopment.1.01.4.i686.rpm > > In other words, is the PACKAGE-NAME always the > string just prior to the '.i386, .i686, .noarnoarchc'? > > > Allow me to try another form.... Generally the "package filename" is constructed from a few components.... package-version-release.arch.rpm Now, internally, what I have labeled "release" is also referred to as "EXTRAVERSION", but I like to differentiate it as a separator between what the upstream developer created and what the "packager/RedHat" has done. In general, version will match up with a base version of the software as delivered from the "developer" which in many cases is done by an individual or group outside of RedHat. RedHat then takes that base code and "patches" it to allow it to a) work on the RedHat distribution, b) fix a compatibility issue with some other package on the distribution, or c) backport a security fix so the fundamental version stays "stable"... The "patching" that the "packager/RedHat" does is reflected in the incrementing value of what I labeled "release". You can find out what the packager has done to a particular rpm by investigating it's "changelog": rpm -qp --changelog package-version-release.arch.rpm, or if the package is already installed: rpm -q --changelog package When using rpm, it is more a question of where it is looking up information. When installing software (rpm -i, -U, or -F), you need to specify the location of the "package filename". By the way, once the software is "installed" we no longer need the "package filename". When removing software or querying, you are accessing the database. The database tracks the package, using a few different forms. You and I need to ensure that the form we choose to use is specific enough to uniquely identify the package we mean inside the database.... Consequently I can use: package package-version-release package-version-release.arch package.arch when utilizing rpm with -e, -q, -V type options since they all generally point to the database. HTH, --Rob
