Working of .Deb Files , Compare with .exe files in Windows

[Jatin Davey]

Paul Schulz wrote:
> Hi Jatin,
>
> I have some 'short' answers for you :-) just in case you wanted specifics
>
> On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 12:57 PM, Jatin Davey <daveyjatin at gmail.com> wrote:
>   
>> Hi all
>>
>> I am new to ubuntu. When i download any apps on the internet to be
>> installed on ubuntu i get to download .deb packages. I know that these
>> are the files that have the required application. I want to know the
>> following:
>>
>> 1. What are the contents of any .deb pacakage in general ?
>>     
>
> If you have the .deb (eg. package-1.2.3_amd64.deb) then you can get a
> list of the files that it contains, and where they will be installed,
> with:
>
>   dpkg -c package-1.2.3_amd64.deb
>
>   
>> 2. What happens when it is installed ? (Where are the files installed ,
>> Directories)
>>     
>
>   - These files are copied to your system
>   - Some installation scripts are run for the package
>     (pre-install, post-install)
>   - An index of the installed files in also saved so that a package can be
>     removed cleanly as well.
>
> Be aware, that packages are installed using administration privileges.
> This means that (in general) anything can be done to to fix/break your
> system at this time... hence why packages are digitally signed.
>
>   
>> 3. Any application under linux is launched using a script which is
>> similar to an exe file in windows , based on this i want to know whether
>> an application can be installed anywhere and in any directory and it can
>> be launched from there without having to set environment variables.
>>     
>
> Not if it is deb packaged. It is design to do onto you system in a
> particular way.
> If you want to put it somewhere else, then you have the following options:
>
>   - Complie the program from source yourself.
>   - Rebuild the package yourself
>
>   
>> Any pointers to all this would help.
>>     
>
>   Good questions.. just filling in some detail that you may (or may
> not) be interested in.
>
> Cheers,
> Paul
>
>   
>> Thanks
>> Jatin
>>
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>>
>>     
>
>   
Thanks Paul. The answers you gave were specific to what i wanted to 
know. Slowly i am getting to understand the linux filesystem and its 
working. Thanks for the help.

Thanks
Jatin