RPM Woes
 

I'm having a difficult time with RPMs. I am a newb so keep that in mind. I'm currently using Redhat 9. This is my main problem, I have a few packages that I want installed (that I previously tried to install) but when I use rpm -q to query them, it says they are not installed. When I try to remove them with rpm -e, it says they are not installed, however, when I use rpm -i to install them, it says they are installed. In general as well when installing rpms I get this message "warning: alsa-kernel-0.9.2-fr2_2.4.20_8.i586.rpm: V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID e42d547b" the alsa-kernel-0.9.2-fr2_2.4.20_8.i586 was the package I was using as an example. Any ideas as to what that weird warning is? I got that when trying to install the ALSA RPMs and the xmms mp3 patch (although I haven't really tried to install many other RPMs) As you may well know Redhat only has a package manager that refers to the RPMs that come with its install, so that not very useful. Any help and information would be greatly apprecaited. Thank you for your time.
-calimer

the name of a file is NOT the name of the package itself.

rpm -Uvh ilikebiscuits-3.1-i586.rpm

but...

rpm -q ilikebiscuits-3.1

can be tricky to remember, but it does actually make sense when you think about it.

Does this mean that I installed the packages incorrectly then? So really when installing I ONLY include the name and version number? Just trying to make sure I get it perfect. From your example it looks like that you DO include the whole file name when installing, but not when removing or quering. Is this correct? Thank you for your help.
-calimer

I have often wondered why some packages do that. I usually try a newer/older package and force the install if needed until it installs correctly.

I usually recommend that a newbie stick to packages built for the distro and perhaps a better software manager such as Red Carpet or apt4rpm

# Redhat links
RedHat Linux Manuals
Maximum RPM
rpmfind
Easier software management: apt4rpm - Red Carpet
RedHat 8.0 Tips & Tricks

# Redhat 8.0 configuration commands
Configure soundcard:
redhat-config-soundcard
Configure X server:
redhat-config-xfree86
Configure network:
redhat-config-network

This warning means you do not have the gpg key for the repository. man gpg for more on that. The skinny is: It is a way for the packager to "sign his or her packages so you know that they are authentic.

And fancypiper is right...go with apt4rpm it will resolve deps for you and for most folks it is the only type of install software they will ever need.

rpm, while okay, most of the time has some shortfalls as a package mgmt system. You name a few in your inital post. go to redhat.com =>support&docs =>redhat 9 and read up on rpm and check out man rpm. It amkes a world of difference after you have played with it a bit it will make a lot more sense.

First, I just want to say thank you to everyone for all the information they've given me, it has been extremely useful. I'm going to give that package manager a shot. It interests me quite a bit that you seem to suggest that RPMs aren't always the best choice. I'm curious about this because recently I came under the impression that RPMs were the best way to go. My reason for thinking this is because the only other package that I'm familar with is tar files. The major downside that I see to tar files is how sometimes it is really hard to remove the files from the computer, especially if you have no idea what files were placed on your computer. With RPMs though, you can just do a simple uninstall. Maybe I am overlooking something though? This is just my newb observation so I am definitely interested in being proved wrong if I am wrong. Once again thank you so much. I really want to completely get rid of windows and now I'm one step closer. Take care.
-calimer

Rpm is used by a ton of distros, but most of them tweak it to fit their distro and to automatically resolve dependencies, such as Mandrake's urpmi, Red Carpet channels for distros and apt4rpm.

Just plain vanilla rpm is great if you understand the error messages and command line options to use it.

Gentoo can uninstall packages (but not un-needed dependencies yet) built from source code (the tarballs). Gentoo's Portage is one of the neatest software package managers I have ever seen, but I suggest using Linux a year or two to get a handle on it first as it is a command line install and hand configuration of files. The only wizard is portage.

Well that is not quite what I meant, but that is not your fault I was being ambiguous.

RPM - meaning the red hat package manager (the program) is what is less than optimal. rpm's (are fine in and of themselves). apt4rpm uses rpm's (packages) and RPM (the red hat program that installs them) however it also resolves dependencies on it's own. That is the important difference.

Becareful mixing .tar.gz sourcecode files with a rpm based distro.

Good luck and happy learning!!!