[H-GEN] SMALL RPM PROBLEM

[Rick Phillips]

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>
> All package management systems are useful (at least to some degree)
> and often it is more a case of what you know and feel comfortable
> with.  Redhat's rpm management does have some drawbacks, but there
> is a lot of method in some of its apparent madness - it is no
> accident that it has become so popular for other distributions
> because of its capabilities and versatility.  It certainly gives you
> a great degree of *control* over your system.
>
> The presence of at least _some_ form of sane package management
> utility is essential on something as complex as a unix box.
>
<<< Bits removed >>>
>
> As for Rick's problem (who started this thread to ask about his
> problem) and for Ewan's earler issue with dhcp-3, it looks to me
> that the real issue is a lack of familiarity with rpm and how it
> works.  (That's ok, we all started out like that:)
>
> Yes, it is (easily) possible to remove a problematic rpm package
> (and all references to it in the rpm database) using rpm itself
> (with the right parameters).

Thank you Tony for your (IMHO) balanced view of my little problem.  I find
that too many people on lists take the view that "RTFM" is the solution to
all problems.  As you have pointed out, it may be to many but not all.  I
have been using and enjoying Linux for 4 years now and having been self
taught, still have much to learn.  I am part of the Noosa LUG and have
visited HUMBUG on one occasion late last year.  I love Linux, what it stands
for but more importantly, what it does.  I champion it everywhere I go and
write a small article about Linux each month in our local newspaper.  I
agree with you that RPM's are the "best" way for most to install packages
and using the X Windows package managers is a snap.  Strangely, this is the
first time I have had to attempt a manual removal of an RPM which, because
of a mental aberration on my part, was installed using the incorrect kernel
version and architecture.  Consequently it did not show up in the RPM
database of installed packages using the X package manager.

This, once again IMHO, is where Linux is not good for newbies.  The man
pages are very cryptic and even though I am comfortable with them after 4
years of self teaching, there are times when I miss things or do not
understand things in them.  This problem is the very thing which is holding
Linux back on the desktop.

I class myself somewhere between newbie and experienced but still have
problems or suffer from lack of understanding from time to time.  I lurk
here to learn, constantly archiving stuff which I think is valuable advice.
I am loath at times to post here as I have triggered the occasional "war",
the one about HTML/text mail clients being one of the notable ones which
then somehow seemed to be followed later by the well remembered one about
editors.  It was all interesting stuff but it flooded my mailbox with
unnecessary traffic for a couple of weeks.

Anyway, my problem was solved leading from the first reply to my post and I
have once again added a little piece of knowledge to my stock pile.

On the whole, I do enjoy the list very much.  It has given me the courage
indirectly to set up my own mail and web servers which now host mail and web
pages for my friends and some business associates who desire autonomy from
their ISP.

And yes, a presentation at HUMBUG about RPM and APT would be a very useful
thing for the new and the experienced.

Regards,

Rick Phillips



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