Re: RH 6.2 install causes screen to explode

[Josh Glover <jmglov@example.com>]

Quoting Peter Evans <peter@example.com>:

> Ooh, "rpm -q --whatprovides" sounds neat.  Thank
> you, Stephen! So I type
> 
> rpm -q --whatprovides libgdk-1.2.so.0
> 
> (one of the things I'm told I need), and thereupon
> read:
> 
> no package provides libgdk-1.2.so.0

Yep, that's where they get you. You see, rpm -q
--whatprovides foo queries only *installed* packages for
foo, and you usually have provide foo as a fully qualified
pathname. Some "virtual" tags work, for instance:

:jmglov@example.com; rpm -q --whatprovides XFree86
XFree86-4.0.1-1
:jmglov@example.com; rpm -q --whatprovides perl
perl-5.6.0-10a
perl-5.6.0-10a

(Some, it would seem, work twice!) But some, however, do not:

:jmglov@example.com; rpm -q --whatprovides php 
no package provides php
:jmglov@example.com; rpm -q --whatprovides c++
no package provides c++

So, what one usually finds oneself doing is:

:jmglov@example.com; rpm -q --whatprovides /usr/bin/c++
gcc-c++-2.96-85

If you want to query *uninstalled* packages, use the -qp
switches. You can:

:jmglov@example.com; rpm -qpi mozilla-0.9.2-0.i386.rpm 
Name        : mozilla             Relocations: /usr 
Version     : 0.9.2               Vendor: Red Hat, Inc.
[...]
Description :
Mozilla is an open-source web browser, designed for
standards compliance, performance and portability.

So, naturally, you try:

:jmglov@example.com; rpm -qp *.rpm --whatprovides foo
rpm: one type of query/verify may be performed at a time

Shit. There are a coupla problems with rpm... But do not
despair. You can do it this way:

:jmglov@example.com; rpm -qp *.rpm --provides | grep mozilla
mozilla = 23:0.9.2-0
mozilla-devel = 23:0.9.2-0
mozilla-mail = 23:0.9.2-0
mozilla-psm = 23:0.9.2-0

Just make sure that *.rpm points to a repository of .rpm
packages. (Like your Redhat install disc, for instance.)

However, I find that the best tool for the job is
rpmfind.net. You can enter a file or virtual tag into the
search box, and rpmfind figures out which rpm provides it,
and gives you a buncha links to download said rpm. Cool!

Good luck.

Now, to address the other (evolving) thread at work here, I
would have to agree that no one distro is "better" than
another. Some distros are good for newbies, some for
hardcore kernel hackers, others for multi-lingual support.
One of the strengths of RH is that it is (usually) pretty
damned easy to installed (compared to, say, Dweebian or
*BSD). I feel reasonably confident in my *nix skillz, but I
am apparently too dumb to make FreeBSD install. And Dweebian
users, don't even pretend that apt-get and dselect are
problem-free! I would have to say that, in my experience,
the BSD ports system is the best way to manage what is
installed on your system, but both rpm and apt-get/dselect
are very useable and have some strong points.

In short, if a distro works for you, said distro is fine by me.


---------------------------------------------------
"No segfault, no problem."

Josh Glover
jmglov@example.com
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