A Slackware _package_ is just an archive and does not have any parameters and structure its self in order to keep with the philosophy^1 of maintaining the software as close to what the original author intended and not adding any extra layers or complexity.
A Slack_build_ is a script that is bundled within the package archive (tgz) that simply runs the configure/make and install process as described in the overview process https://docs.slackware.com/slackware:slackbuild_scripts
Imagine you found a software project that was not in the Debian or Devuan repositories and wanted to use it on one of your existing systems. You would download the source from that project, extract it and peruse the documentation to see if it has any dependency requirements and if you have everything it requires follow the build and install process for that software. That build/install process is what the Slackbuild does. The Slackbuild script will have a standard format to help with ease of re-use and long term maintenance.
A brief layout of a Slackware install can be found here https://docs.slackware.com/slackbook:working_with_filesystems but in general it follows what the Linux / Kernel foundation and developers set forth as standards, again per the Slackware philosophy
You can extract any Slackware package and see the internal structure is that of the software's completed build/install laid out as the software author intended.
There are a number of tools to help automate bulk building packages for deployment to multiple systems if that's something you are in need of.
1: https://docs.slackware.com/slackware:philosophy On 1/10/22 21:18, Beco via SlackBuilds-users wrote:
Hello there, Slack users, I just joined. I hope you are all doing well, and that this list is still active. I am migrating from Debian systemD. I tried Devuan as well. It is difficult to change distros when you have many computers/notebooks and you want them to share the same distro. Some of my small scripts and programs need to adapt. It is not a big deal, but I want them to keep organized. I think the best way is to reorganize them within the parameters and directory structure of a slackware package. Please, what is a good updated detailed source of explanation about the format and internals of a tgz tar-ball (package)? Thanks and still in time, happy 2022.
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