DEB compared with RPM [LWN.net]

DEB compared with RPM

Posted Feb 21, 2007 22:05 UTC (Wed) by mheily (guest, #27123)
In reply to: DEB compared with RPM by midg3t
Parent article: ESR's goodbye note

I should have said 'package build system' instead of 'package format' in my earlier comment, because the two formats *are* similar at the low level of detail that Joey Hess is talking about. They both contain a collection of files that can be installed and uninstalled, and contain scripts that run during the install and uninstall process.

The point I was trying to make is that the mechanism for defining and creating a DEB package is superior to the mechanism for defining and creating an RPM package. This is part of the reason why Debian packages are 'better' than RPM packages; the power and flexibility of the build system allows you to design better packages with less effort, which makes the end user's life (and now ESR's life, apparently) easier.

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DEB compared with RPM

Posted Feb 22, 2007 16:28 UTC (Thu) by pizza (subscriber, #46) [Link]

> The point I was trying to make is that the mechanism for defining and creating a DEB package is superior to the mechanism for defining and creating an RPM package. This is part of the reason why Debian packages are 'better' than RPM packages; the power and flexibility of the build system allows you to design better packages with less effort, which makes the end user's life (and now ESR's life, apparently) easier.

There is no (major) technical reason why Debian couldn't switch to RPM, or Fedora switch to DPKG as the packaging format.

"Fedora on dpkg" will be indistinguishable from the current "Fedora on rpm". Likewise, "Debian on rpm" would be indistinguishable from the current "Debian on dpkg". As there is no technical benefit to doing so, there's no point in wasting everyone's time for a non-feature.

The "end-user's life" is "easier" precisely because of Debian's packaging policies. While the tools may have features to help facilitate said policies, the policies drive the tools, not the other way around.

Both Fedora's and Debian's strengths (and weaknesses!) lie in their policies, not their tools. Both distributions still have different goals, and their policies reflect those goals.