mirror of
https://github.com/Project-OSS-Revival/alien.git
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* Removed an obsolete note from the man page.
* Set locale to C while using rpm to pick at the .rpm file we are going to
convert, Closes: #42282
* Moved /usr/lib/alien to /usr/share/alien
* Added --nopatch option, Closes: #47069
This commit is contained in:
joey
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alien.1
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alien.1
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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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alien \- Convert or install 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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\fBalien\fP [\fB--to-deb\fP] [\fB--patch=file\fP] [\fBoptions\fP] \fBfile\fP [\fB...\fP]
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.br
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\fBalien\fP \fB\-ppatch\fP \fBalien-package-file\fP
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\fBalien\fP --to-rpm [\fBoptions\fP] \fBfile\fP [\fB...\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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\fBalien\fP --to-tgz [\fBoptions\fP] \fBfile\fP [\fB...\fP]
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.br
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\fBalien\fP --to-slp [\fBoptions\fP] \fBfile\fP [\fB...\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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To build Debian packages,
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.I alien
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is simply called with a parameter giving the
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name of the alien package to be converted. A look up will then be done in
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.B /var/lib/alien/packagename*.diff.gz
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and then in
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.B /usr/lib/alien/patches/packagename*.diff.gz .
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If such a diff exists then the alien package is unpacked and the patch is
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applied to debianize the package. If there is no such diff then
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.I alien
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will attempt to automatically debianize the package. After this, alien will
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build the debian binary package, and it will be saved to the current
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directory.
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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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To build Red Hat packages, alien must be called with the --to-rpm parameter,
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and the name of the alien package to be converted.
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.I Alien
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will then generate a spec file, and call rpm to build the package.
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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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.I alien
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will build the 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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.I Alien
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can input and output packages in the Red Hat .rpm format, the Debian .deb
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format, the Stampede .slp format, the Slackware .tgz format and the
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generic .tar.gz format.
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.PP
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For converting from and to .rpm format the Red Hat Package Manager must be
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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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For converting to (but not from) .deb format, the gcc, make, debmake, dpkg-dev,
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and dpkg packages must be installed.
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.PP
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All files in /etc are assumed to be configuration files.
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Note that for the .tar.gz format,
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.I alien
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will simply generate a .deb or .rpm package that has the same files in it as
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are in the tar file. This only works well if the tar file has precompiled
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binaries in it in a standard linux directory tree. Do NOT run alien on tar
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files with source code in them, unless you want this source code to be
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installed in your root directory when you install the package!
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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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.I file [...]
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The list of files to convert.
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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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.I -d, --to-deb
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The output package will be a debian package. This is the default.
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.TP
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.I -ppatch
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.I -r, --to-rpm
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The output package will be a rpm package.
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.TP
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.I -t, --to-tgz
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The output will be a slackware tgz package.
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.TP
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.I --to-slp
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The output will be a stampede slp package.
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.TP
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.I -i, --install
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Automatically install the output package, and remove the package file
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after it has been installed.
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.TP
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.I -g, --generate
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Generate a temporary directory suitable for building a package from, but do
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not actually create the package. This is useful if you want to move files
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around in the package before building it. The package can be built from this
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temporary directory by running "debian/rules binary", if you were creating a
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Debian package, or by running "rpm -bb <packagename>.spec" if you were
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creating a Red Hat package.
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.TP
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.I -s, --single
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Like -g, but do not generate the packagename.orig directory. This is only
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useful when you are very low on disk space and are generating a debian
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package.
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.TP
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.I --patch=patch
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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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.B /var/lib/alien/ .
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This is only allowed with --to-deb.
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.TP
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.I --nopatch
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Do not use any patch files.
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.TP
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.I --description=desc
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Specifiy a description for the package. This can only be used when
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converting from slackware tgz packages, which lack descriptions. If it is
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not used when converting from slackware tgz packages, a generic description
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is used.
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.TP
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.I -c, --scripts
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Try to convert the scripts that are meant to be run when the
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package is installed and removed. Use this with caution, becuase these
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scripts might be designed to work on a system unlike your own, and could
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cause problems. It is reccommended that you examine the scripts by hand
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and check to see what they do before using this option.
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.TP
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.I -k, --keep-version
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By default, alien adds one to the minor version number. If this option
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is given, alien will not do this.
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.TP
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.I -h, --help
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Display a short usage summary.
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.SH EXAMPLES
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Here are some examples of the use of alien:
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.TP
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.I alien --to-deb package.rpm
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Convert the package.rpm into a package.deb
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.TP
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.I alien --to-rpm package.deb
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Convert the package.deb into a package.rpm
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.TP
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.I alien -i package.rpm
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Convert the package.rpm into a package.deb (converting to a .deb package is
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default, so you need not specify --to-deb), and install the generated
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package.
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.SH ENVIRONMENT
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Alien recognizes the following environemnt variables:
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.TP
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.I RPMBUILDOPT
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Options to pass to rpm when it is building a package.
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.TP
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.I RPMINSTALLOPT
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Options to pass to rpm when it is installing a package.
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.SH LIMITATIONS
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When running alien on a tar file, all files in /etc in are assumed to be
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configuration files.
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.PP
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Alien does not account for differences in configuration between different
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linux distributions. So don't use it to replace something essential like
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sysvinit. You could destroy your system by doing so. In general, if you
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can't uninstall the package without breaking your system, don't try to
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replace it with an alien version.
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.PP
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If alien is not run as root, the files in the generated package will have
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incorrect owners and permissions.
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.SH AUTHOR
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Alien was written by Christoph Lameter.
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.br
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<clameter@debian.org>
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.PP
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Deb to rpm conversion code was taken from the Martian program by
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Randolph Chung.
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.br
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<rc42@cornell.edu>
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.PP
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Alien has been extensively rewritten and is now maintained by Joey Hess.
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.br
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<joeyh@master.debian.org>
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