Source RPMs can be used in two ways. They can install the source code for your application (usually in /usr/src/redhat), and you can apply the appropriate patches and install it. Or, you can run rpm --rebuild someprogram.src.rpm, and produce binary RPMs. The latter option is particularly useful when you want to compile with optimizations for a specific CPU architecture. For instance, you could download the Mozilla source RPM, type "rpm --rebuild --target athlon mozilla-1.0.0-9.src.rpm", and an hour or so later, you would have (in /usr/src/redhat/RPMS) a complete set of mozilla*.athlon.rpm files ready to install. (As opposed to downloading the mozilla*.i386.rpm files, which don't have the athlon-specific optimizations).
Rebuilding from a source RPM may confer other advantages as well, based upon the environment (available library versions, etc) of the computer where you do the build. HTH, - Gary --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > What are src rpms for? Can I use them to install something I > need, kind of like the tar.gz source? If so, why not just use > the source from tar.gz? > > Bryan __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the BYU UUG discussion mailist list, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word "UNSUBSCRIBE" as the message body Visit the BYU UUG website at: http://uug.clubs.byu.edu/
