On Sat, Nov 30, 2002 at 10:48:45AM +0000, Syd Hancock wrote:
rpms are a pain though as just the other day i had to start using --nodeps to install things and spent a couple of hours looking for bits online to make stuff work.
As a linux beginner I have found Mandrake's urpmi very useful since it automatically handles finding and installing dependencies. From what I have read, the classic 'rpm' does sound much more tricky.
Related question: does debian's "apt" include a way to find what .debs are available or do you have to know in detail what you want first? What I mean is, is it possible to search the list(s) of sources, perhaps using keywords, if you want to find an install a package?
Yes. apt-cache is one such method. For example:
[noodles@the ~]$ apt-cache search mailing list manager courier-mlm - Courier Mail Server mailing list manager ecartis - Fast, Flexible Mailing List Manager minimalist - a MINImalist MAiling LIST manager smartlist - Versatile and Intelligent List Processor sympa - Modern mailing list manager ezmlm-src - easy-to-use high-speed mailing list manager for qmail (source) mailman - Powerful, web-based mailing list manager
You can then use "apt-cache show <package name>" to see the long description and dependencies.
J.