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List:       opensolaris-install-discuss
Subject:    [install-discuss] Are these issues with Solaris packaging addressed?
From:       "Brian Gupta" <brian.gupta () gmail ! com>
Date:       2007-06-25 20:49:01
Message-ID: 5b5090780706251349x1aaef8b4l32260bcd8c46be93 () mail ! gmail ! com
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(RPM can be replaced with the package manager of your choice)

Why package software using RPM when Solaris has its own format?

Package Database
    Solaris stores the package database in /var/sadm/install. This
means that even though the install directory, e.g. /usr/local, may be
NFS exported to a number of clients, only the machine it was installed
on can query or delete the package.

    RPM can store its database anywhere, for example,
/usr/local/rpm/db. With the database in this directory any client
mounting /usr/local can manage the packages.

Package Signatures
    RPM Packages have support for MD5 and OpenPGP signatures stored
right in the files.

Package Verification
    RPM has the ability to verify installed packages to detect
corruption and or tampering. RPM checks the permissions, ownership,
md5 checksums, and size of each file.

Package Documentation
    I used to keep a notebook with the instructions for creating every
package I built. This included configure options, files that needed
patching, etc. I would always forget if there was some quirk about the
software the next time I had to build it not to mention optional
things that were enabled or disabled.

    The beauty of RPM is that all of that information is stored in the
Source RPM when the package is built. That basically makes it
self-documenting.
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