The Super RPM?

[Richard Hendershot]

You can set up a local file system to be a repository with Smart (other
linux package managers too I think!).  So if you had a mounted flash
stik, you can point smart to that or a CD or a file you got in email
(though I'd start to wonder about security with things handed around
like that)

The double-click install feature is a matter of getting a
distributed .channel file into /etc/smart/channels.  Auto Run (CD/
Memory Stik/ etc) could do that.

One issue to consider is how to make certain your user is not installing
to a non-compatible system.  An assumption with package managers is that
the repo/channel is configured by the original distro or by a user who
nominally know what he's doing.  I can add a Fedora 3 repo to my Fedora
7 system and install from there.  So long as the RPM dependencies are
met the packages would install.  They might not work correctly though.

I don't know about changing Linux forever ;)  Laos is likely to have
widespread bandwidth sometime in the future so I doubt you'd get a lot
of buy-in from package devs.  The cheapest mass-distribution is probably
a branded Update CD; easily mailed, durable, inexpensive, integrated
with auto-run so script can assert the proper platform, etc.

On Tue, 2007-07-31 at 15:45 +0700, Hamish Robertson wrote:

> Hey guys,
> I'm remastering a version of linux for use here in Laos.
> 
> Now for this distro to take off here, thje only thing that's really
> stopping it is the rpm dependancy issue. If everyone here was on

not a dependency problem.  Unless I misunderstand, it's just about raw
bandwidth.  How to get a lot of bytes to users who don't have high speed
and/or cheap internet.

> broadband, synaptic or smart package manager would make this a non
> issue, but they're not. Laos is a 3rd world country and has got a LONG
> way to go in terms of IT and infrastructure. This project hopes to
> fill in quite a few of the gaps.
> 
> Anyway, I've come up with a solution to this issue. Here me out, if
> I'm right it could change linux forever. Anyway, here it goes  (I'm
> NOT a programmer!!!  ).
> 
> Currently when installing a package, smart looks at the big library in
> the sky and works out where the rpm is, and which dependancies you'll
> need, then go fetches everything and installs it in the right order.
> It's fantastic...but what I was thinking was...what if we could freeze
> the packages and the synaptic install script into a single file? This
> super rpm would be able to be distributed on usb sticks, attached in

This IS a dependency issue.  What if I have a slightly different version
of GCC or some lib or something than does the person creating the
Super-RPM?  On MY system the package cannot install.  Normally my
package manager will offer to fetch the necessary dependent packages or
versions.  I don't think RPM would find those in such a Super-RPM b/c
the SrRPM itself would have a version and specified dependencies.  Even
if it did work, I'm back to needing internet to obtain the packages
needed.

> emails and installed on the same distro (if it was created from a
> clean install) with a simple double click (opeing it with smart).
> 
> H.


There's a Fedora project to create re-mix distributions that have
milestone point releases.  This allows the user to install (not sure
about upgrade though probably the upgrade-existing-installation would
work that way) a Fedora without the need to immediately go get a bunch
of update RPMs.  

I speak of Fedora b/c that's what I use.  It's the wrong distro for your
need though as it changes all the time.  Ubuntu is probably a better
bet, but you've probably already determined the distro you're going to
base from.
-- 
Richard Hendershot <rshendershot at mchsi.com>
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