LinuxQuestions.org - rpm and deb whats the difference

Linux package formats - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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# deb — Debian package, originally from Debian. Used by Debian derivatives like Knoppix and Ubuntu
# ebuild — the file containing information on how to retrieve, compile, and install a package in Gentoo's Portage system using the command emerge. Typically these are source-primary installs, though binary packages can be installed in this fashion as well.
# klik — klik aims to provide an easy way of getting software packages for most major distributions without the dependency problems so common in many other package formats.
# recipe — the file containing information on how to download, unpack, compile and install a package in Gobo Linux distribution using its Compile tool. This system is similar to the Gentoo's Portage, but is more simplistic in design.
# RPM — RPM Package Manager, originally from Red Hat, is now used by many other distributors as well
# src — building the packages from source (often binary packages are provided in parallel on many systems).[citation needed]
# tgz or tar.gz — standard tar + gzip, possibly with some extra control files — used by Slackware and others, or sometimes when distributing very simple handmade packages

Deb (file format) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quote:

deb is the extension of the Debian software package format and the most often used name for such binary packages. Like the term Debian, it's named after Deborah, wife of Debian's founder Ian Murdock

RPM Package Manager
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPM_Package_Manager

Simply rpm was developed by RH and .deb by Debian,