RPM Overview ............

FREE RPM Downloads:
http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat/3/srodzaj/1/search/compat-gcc

For more details on RPM commands one can refer to following pdf file:http://home.frognet.net/~aalug/docs/rpm.pdf


The RPM Package Manager (RPM) is a powerful command line driven package management system capable of installing, uninstalling, verifying, querying, and updating computer software packages. Each software package consists of an archive of files along with information about the package like its version, a description, and the like. There is also a related API ("Application Program Interface"), permitting advanced developers to bypass 'shelling out' to a command line, and to manage such transactions from within a native coding language. RPM has become the defacto format for LSB compliant distributions.

Basic RPM Commands:
1. -U Update or install the chosen package. This can be done via http or ftp in addition to using local files.
2. -i Install the selected package, allows for multiple versions.
3. -e Remove. This allows you to remove the packages you specify.
4. -v Verbose. Print out more information than usual.
5. -F Freshen. This is similar to -U but will only work on if an earlier version of the package is already installed.
6. -h Hash. This makes rpm pretty when you install packages, and gives you a progress bar.
7. -qa Query all. This allows you to query for every package installed on the system. You can limit the search by giving it a value like rpm -qa "send*".
8. -ql lists the files associated with a package.
9. -qg lists all installed packages in a specific group, for example "System Environment/Shells".
10. -qi lists the spec file header for the given package. This is one of the things that makes rpm useful for automation.