Uwe Ohse

frequently asked questions

Are binary packages available?

Answer:
None are available here, but you may find them somewhere else:

I can't provide binary packages, my machines haven't got too much in common with clean installations and i possibly don't have access to the very same operating system release you are running.
Besides i don't want to provide binaries. That's not my job.

What to do with specifications for .rpm, .deb, .pkg and so on?

or

... I've written a [binary package specification]. Here's it!

Answer:
Fine. You might want to send them to your operating system vendor. *Please* consider doing this.

No, thank's for asking, but i will not include it into the distribution. There's a small number of reasons:

  1. i will not include anything i cannot check.
    I cannot check .deb or .rpm, even if i happen to meet a linux machine. My remaining linux systems are pretty non-standard.
  2. binary package specifications are moving targets. Vendors keep changing them all the time, and there's quite a big number of vendors. I can't track them all.
  3. I don't want to have to release a new version of a package just because i need to adapt some .spec-file because the vendor changed something. I once made that mistake, but only once.
  4. i'm not going to dive into the lovely world of incompatible binary packages. If i'd provide rpm specifications for RedHat-7 they will no be of much value for people running SuSE, will not be of any value for those running RedHat-6, and will most likely not even be of any value with RedHat-9.
My way to help you to use my software is to give you the sources - they are very likely to be of more value to you in the long run.
You see, programming can be fun. Dealing with vendor idiosyncrasy certainly isn't.