different distros, different packages

gors · 01-17-2002, 07:38 AM

hi!
question: if I have installed a distribution and from a cd or from a site I obtain software of another one distro, can I use it?

more specific: I have Suse 7.3 but in a PC with few RAM I can't run yast and I can't install it so I took Red Hat and it worked but now I want to use all the software that comes with Suse. can I? just installing? or are there some particular instructions?

thank!

ciao!

TacKat · 01-17-2002, 08:20 AM

I don't know what package management Suse uses, but if you download the source for the program and compile it yourself, it will almost always work.

The general procedure for that is get the tarball, decompress it, cd directory, read the README and INSTALL (if it has them) and follow the instructions there. Most software uses the './configure', 'make', 'make install' process, but it doesn't hurt to be sure.

trickykid · 01-17-2002, 10:15 AM

well, about all software on one linux box will work on another... the only thing you wouldn't or i wouldn't suggest is maybe trying to install Yast on a redhat box... software and packages like that pertain to mainly the distro.. you could probably get it to work or others like that, but it might be a hassle and might cause problems.

NSKL · 01-17-2002, 12:37 PM

both SuSE and RH use RPM so i guess it should work. I use slackware and i use slackware's rpm2tgz to convert suse rpms to slacks tgz, then i install them and if i have all the libraries the programs work flawlessly.
Anywayz you should be able to use SuSE's RPMs on RH...