Hello !

I am new to Linux and I've got a question regarding portability of third-party programs on Linux.

I would like to use Linux in combination with Sybase, Oracle and Weblogic Application Server for some testing purposes. These application platforms are widely available for Redhat, but not for Suse. I was wondering, to which extent Linux is portable. For some reasons I would like to use Suse. To which extent is Linux portable ??? Can I, for example, run Sybase for Redhat in some way on Suse.... ??? Does the bytecode of a Redhat application differ a lot from the bytecode of a Suse-application ??? Or is it just impossible to run application across installations ???


Greetz,

i'd safe if they are rpms then no, you shouldnt have a problem, suse is an rpm-based distro

Welcome to LQ. Different distros use different package management tools (Redhat uses RPM's, Slackware uses .tgz's, etc.) which can complicate the picture. Fortunately, although most vendors typically offer what I would call "distro optimized" versions of their software, they also usually offer the source code as well. Example, a vendor may offer a Redhat version of their software, plus the source. If you've got Redhat, you could download the RPM's and install them just like you'd install anything else, but if you didn't have Redhat, then you'd need to manually work through the installation, but in the end, the software ought to be up and running just fine.

Additionally, there are various package conversion tools out there, such as rpm2tgz which (surprisingly enough) will convert an RPM to a tgz

Clearly though, the ultimate success of this sort of project would be heavily dependent on exactly which vendor, which distro, and which software package you are talking about. Good luck with it either way -- J.W.