I just got done installing slackware 10.1 and don't understand how the rpm packges work. I got done fixing that installation problem with firefox with the ./firefox-installer . Before I found the solution I downloaded a rpm that had the missing *.so files, hey ended up not needing them, I don't understand how you upgrade files thou. I was using redhat 9 before and if you were missing a .*so you would find the rpm and download it. This is not the case in slackware, when I convert them I just get the files in a subdir where I unpackged it. If I did need these *.so would I have to installl them all manually in /lib?

I'll be short and won't explain the whole thing, but basically, Slackware uses it's own package system not RPM. You can install rpms because Slackware supports it but it won't check dependencies because it doesn't come with any rpm installed by default and you should avoid using RPM whenever posible. You can convert it to tgz (slackware package) by using rpm2tgz and then install it using pkgtool or installpkg. You do have to install depedencies if they aren't on your system because Slackware package system doesn't check for them, it leaves all the stuff to you.

A good source for Slackware packages is linuxpackages.net

See here for more details: http://www.slackware.com/book/index....rce=c3984.html

.rpm, as explained already is not native to Slack.

....which is good..

One of the major points that puts Slackware head and
shoulders above RedHat is the fact that it doesn't use
the RedHat Package Manager. Slackware has some
tools, just issue "man installpkg" to read about them.
To avoid the dependency problems that everyone has
with RPM, read the Changelogs, README, and INSTALL
files before compiling a package from source, and be
certain you have the software requirements.

In Slackware, you should install from source, and once
you learn, you won't have problems with "packages."
I have tried to use LinuxPackages.net, but have found
that on my systems they don't usually work. If you get
a package rather than installing, get it straight from
Slackware and not from a third party.

To compile from source, Jeremy wrote a Linux Tutorial
here on LQ which you should read to get you started.

And read about, configure, and use CheckInstall to
make your own Slackware packages when you compile
from source, and you'll be able to easily save and migrate
the packages you've compiled.

When you run a properly configured Slackware system,
you'll understand what a powerful distribution it is...