yet I have a problem. I 've tried rpm2tgz and doesn't work as expected.. (it doesn't install)

Anyone tried to do this and worked?
The rpm in RedHat 8 CDs might be a redhat-specific RPM (??)

I had the idea that SlackWare supported (in a way) RPM..
what is going on.. ?

try rpm --install --force --nodeps <name_of_rpm>

(as root)

this is from the slackware essentials book......"rpm2tgz/rpm2targz
The Red Hat Package Manager is a popular packaging system available today. Many software distributors are offering their products in RPM format. Since this is not our native format, we do not recommend people rely on them. However, some things are only available as an RPM (even the source).

We provide a program that will convert RPM packages to our native .tgz format. This will allow you to extract the package (perhaps with explodepkg) to a temporary directory and examine its contents.

The rpm2tgz program will create a Slackware package with a .tgz extension, while rpm2targz creates an archive with a .tar.gz extension. "

notice the optimum word here is "convert". you have to first convert RPM's to a .tgz package and then use slackware's "installpkg" feature to install program.

IE......as root: installpkg quanta-3.1.3-i486-1.tgz

thanks, but my question is are they RPM that are Distro-specific or not?

ps. I 'd better d/l the source from openoffice.org (but for my 56k modem it is too large!)

ps2. I might try that force and nodepts (but is there a way back, if sth goes wrong)?

No, Some distro's handle RPM's differently than others. In Slackware you cannot directly install an RPM, it has to be converted to a tarball, then Slack will recognize it.

rpm --uninstall <name>

(entered as root of course)

Actually, I am not so sure about "uninstall", but whatever the command is, it should work [just take a look at "man rpm"]...

Honestly, just using "rpm" works very well for me. Some applications (such as "Ted") can only be installed like that, and it works pretty well.

ever tried man rpm (it's huge!) [ok man gcc is LARGER!!] I 'll try reading only the related stuff so as to be sure that there is a way back if I do the force & nodebs and sth doesn't go as expected..
thanks anyway

ps. Damn! no nothing about rpm n stuff

I am sorry, but if you don't want to learn, there is nothing I can do for you...

Besides, you don't have to read the entire man page: just the top 10%

Linux, like many UNIX, is pretty well-documented. If you don't want to use that documentation (man, apropos, whatis, locate, etc), you are making things more difficult for yourself...

OK, as I said in the same post, I 'll read the related stuff about rpm (already did that). Documentation is Great (and necessary)

anyways, in RedHat CDs I found 3 RPMs:

openoffice-1.0.1-8.i386.rpm openoffice-libs-1.0.1-8.i386.rpm
openoffice-i18n-1.0.1-8.i386.rpm

in any order these RPMs didn't work for me (as expected) I used --force --nodeps

I was looking for someone who may had done this before (for these 3 packages) I should go for the source..

For the moment, I feel happy with abiword