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69 lines
2.4 KiB
Groff
69 lines
2.4 KiB
Groff
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.TH alien 1L "Debian Utilities" "DEBIAN" \" -*- nroff -*-
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.SH NAME
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alien \- Install / Patch an alien binary package
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.SH SYNOPSIS
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\fBalien\fP [\fB\-n\fP] \fBalien-package-file\fP
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.br
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\fBalien\fP \fB\-ppatch\fP \fBalien-package-file\fP
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.br
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\fBalien\fP \fB\-g\fP [\fB\-ppatch\fP] \fBalien-package-file\fP
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.SH DESCRIPTION
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alien allows foreign packages to be installed under the debian package
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manager.
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.br
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Commonly alien is simply called with a parameter giving the alien packagename
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to be installed. A look up will then be done in
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.B /var/lib/alien/packagename*.diff.gz .
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If such a diff exists then the alien
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package is unpacked, the patch is applied, a temporary .deb package
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generated and finally installed. If there is no such diff then alien will
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fail (unless the -n option is given).
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.PP
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With the -n option the optimistic assumption is made that the alien package
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will work without any changes under the Debian scheme of things. If things
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break then you can simply uninstall the package using the debian package
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manager.
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.PP
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With the -g option a package layout suitable for the development of patches
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is created from the alien package. A directory packagename.orig and a
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directory <packagename> is generated. Changes can be made to the packagename
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directory and all commonly used tools for sourcepackages will work on the
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packet. For example a .deb file can be generated using
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.B debian/rules binary
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and can then be installed in a regular way. Even
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.B dpkg-buildpackage
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will generate the usual files.
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.PP
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This tool probably needs to be run as superuser. Make sure that there is
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enough room in the current directory since
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.B alien
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will build a debian package in that location.
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.SH ALIEN PACKAGE FORMATS
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alien supports the Red Hat .rpm format, Slackware .tgz formant and the
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generic .tar.gz format. For the rpm format the Red Hat Package Manager must
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be installed (See
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.B rpm(8)
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).
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.SH LIMITATIONS
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Installation scripts for rpm packages are not supported.
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.PP
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You must specify a full path for the -p option.
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.PP
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All files in /etc are assumed to be configuration files.
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.SH OPTIONS
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.TP
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.I -n
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Assume the alien package can be installed without any patches.
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.TP
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.I -g
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Generate a source package suitable for patching and moving binaries around
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.TP
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.I -ppatch
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Specify the patch to be used instead of automatically looking the patch up
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in
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.B /var/lib/alien
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.SS AUTHOR
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Alien was written by Christoph Lameter <clameter@debian.org>
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It is now being maintained by Joey Hess <joeyh@master.debian.org>
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