Installing rpm package in Ubuntu 6.06

[Al Gordon]

On 7/25/06, Derek Broughton <news at pointerstop.ca> wrote:
> Markus Schönhaber wrote:
>
> > Aron Lopes Petrucci wrote:
> >> But, now, I'm trying to install MySQL GUI Query Browser, MySQL GUI
> >> Admin, and Free Pascal "Lazarus". - I have a lot of hours in Delphi.
> >>
> >> The problem: I have downloaded Lazarus and MySQL GUIs rpm packages
> >> in /home/Software/Lazarus and /home/Software/MysqlGUI, then I use
> >> synaptic menu: Files->add dowloaded packages (sorry, but my synaptic
> >> menu is in portuguese, I don't know the exact command in English) and
> >> browse to the location above. Then... the rpm packages are disable.
> >
> > What's wrong whith the "mysql-client" and "mysql-query-browser" packages
> > which are already in the Ubuntu repository? Why not use those?
>
> I agree.  Alien is the tool to use if you absolutely _must_ use an rpm, but
> it's rarely necessary.  If you need software:
>
> 1) search for packages in Ubuntu
> 2) search for ubuntu packages (ie, made for but not part of Ubuntu)
> 3) try Debian packages
> 4 or 5) use an rpm via alien
> 5 or 4) make .deb package from source
>
> The last is probably the right way to do it if you can't already find
> a .deb, but the rpm is admittedly simpler in most cases.
>
> Googling "lazarus .deb" shows there are .deb files out there - try one of
> them first.
> --
> derek

Agreed.

Just an fyi regarding step 5/4:  If you need to make your own deb
packages from source, but are intimidated by the apparently brutally
technical process of doing so, check out the checkinstall package.
Using checkinstall, it's as simple to roll your own .deb as replacing
the final "make install" command with "checkinstall".  I commonly use
it for creating my own rubygems package on various systems I manage,
since Ubuntu doesn't provide it in the standard repositories.

-- 

  -- AL --