Software management

From Mandrivausers Wiki

Almost all software for Linux is distributed as packages, and Mandriva (along with some other distributions such as Red Hat) uses a format called RPM. Often several RPMs need to be installed to get a new program, and it is the package management tool's job to make sure all the right RPMs are installed, updated and removed as necessary. In Mandriva this tool is called Urpmi.

Other Linux distributions use different package systems, for example Debian and Debian-based distributions use deb's instead of RPMS and apt-get instead of urpmi. Generally speaking, packages intended for one system are not compatible with other ones, so the right package needs to be found for the right system. Fortunately, for all the popular distributions, all conceivable software is already packaged in the right format and made available in online repositories.

To get an idea what kind of software is available for linux, see Linux software.

[edit] Package management tools

The main tool used for package management in Mandriva is called Urpmi. This can be used either from the command line or using the provided point-and-click application called rpmdrake. In this way all the dependencies between packages are calculated, and the extra packages are downloaded, added or removed as necessary in order to keep the system consistent.

Please see the main article: installing software using Urpmi.

An alternative package manager called Smart can also be used instead of Urpmi. This manages the same RPMs as Urpmi but uses a different front-end, the Smart developer claims Smart handles dependencies better than traditional package managers, like urpmi, yum and apt-get and thus doing complex upgrades are more reliably performed by smart than those traditional package managers, one definite advantage over urpmi is that it allows downgrades, which can be very handy if an upgrade breaks your system.

Finally, some software is distributed as RPMs but not as part of the official Mandriva repositories (for example, Picasa). In this case Urpmi can not be used to install the software, it should be downloaded separately and installed manually using the RPM tool or the file can be double clicked and a dialogue will pop up asking if you want to install or not.

[edit] Non-package-based installation

Some software is not packaged into RPMs and must be installed by hand. In this case the two main alternatives are installing software from binaries and installing software from source.

Many people moving to Linux do not understand the package management systems because they are used to downloading self-installing executables in Windows. What is really important to understand is this just isn't the way Linux does it. Its not that one way is better or worse, its that if you try to install software in Linux like you do in Windows you are making it over-complicated.

In Linux the package manager is your friend and although its not the only way to install software it is the one which will make life simplest and your transition to Linux as smooth as possible.

see Easy URPMI as your number 1 way to install software in Mandriva. When you use the package managers as intended URPMI does all the work for you and installing/removing a program can be done with one line on the CLI or a few mouse clicks.

If you really can't find a urpmi source for a program then the next best is finding a RPM. These can be installed from the command line using rpm --install or using GURPMI for instance graphically. The problem with doing this is that you are then responsible to find any helper programs your main program needs. Always try and use a Mandriva specific RPM if you can, then RH and FC and finally Suse.

You can also install from source. Again this is a advanced subject and in most cases not necassary. Since this document is aimed at beginners this won't be covered here.

Finally you have the almost windows like self extracting files. These are available for Firefox, OpenOffice, Picassa and Google Earth to name but a few. The best rule for the simplest life is try and find it in the urpmi repositories first. This way its integrated into Mandrivas database of what is and what is not installed and how this might depend on libraries etc.