Difference between .Deb and .tar Packages

[Justin Gruenberg]

On Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 12:40 AM, Jatin Davey <daveyjatin at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all
>
> I would like to know the difference between the .Deb Packages and .tar
> Packages.

.tar (.bz, .gz, etc) are just archives, much like zip files (which are
more common with windows)
.deb files are packages that can be installed with the package manager
on your system.  These include information for the package management
system about dependencies, meta information, and scripts that get ran
during install.  These can be installed on by opening them with gdebi
(graphical way, theres many other ways to install them).

> Why i am asking this question ?
>    -- Because most of the software applications that i intend to
> install come either in .Deb packages or .tar files.

I'd first find if the software you want to install is available in the
Ubuntu repositories.  Using the package manager is a much safer way to
install and maintain software.  The system will automatically track
the software, check for updates, and cleanly uninstall the software
should you choose to do so.

If the software you're looking for is not available from the main
repositories Ubuntu provides, I'd suggest looking for a PPA that
distributes the software before compiling from source and manually
installing.

You should read up on how software management works in Ubuntu, as we
do things fundamentally different than in Windows[1].

> Do all the .Deb package or the .tar package include all the dependencies
> that the package requires to run properly ?

Neither include all dependencies.  .deb files will list the
dependencies and the package manager will install those from the
repositories.

A tar archive wont include any dependencies.  You'll have to read the
README or INSTALL file in the archive to learn how to configure,
compile, and install the application.

[1] https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SoftwareManagement