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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0//EN">
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<title>The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ - Compatibility issues</title>
<link href="index.en.html" rel="start">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html" rel="prev">
<link href="ch-software.en.html" rel="next">
<link href="index.en.html#contents" rel="contents">
<link href="index.en.html#copyright" rel="copyright">
<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html" rel="chapter" title="1 Definitions and overview">
<link href="ch-getting.en.html" rel="chapter" title="2 Getting and installing Debian GNU/Linux">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html" rel="chapter" title="3 Choosing a Debian distribution">
<link href="ch-compat.en.html" rel="chapter" title="4 Compatibility issues">
<link href="ch-software.en.html" rel="chapter" title="5 Software available in the Debian system">
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html" rel="chapter" title="6 The Debian FTP archives">
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html" rel="chapter" title="7 Basics of the Debian package management system">
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html" rel="chapter" title="8 The Debian package management tools">
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html" rel="chapter" title="9 Keeping your Debian system up-to-date">
<link href="ch-kernel.en.html" rel="chapter" title="10 Debian and the kernel">
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html" rel="chapter" title="11 Customizing your installation of Debian GNU/Linux">
<link href="ch-support.en.html" rel="chapter" title="12 Getting support for Debian GNU/Linux">
<link href="ch-contributing.en.html" rel="chapter" title="13 Contributing to the Debian Project">
<link href="ch-redistrib.en.html" rel="chapter" title="14 Redistributing Debian GNU/Linux in a commercial product">
<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html" rel="chapter" title="15 Changes expected in the next major release of Debian">
<link href="ch-faqinfo.en.html" rel="chapter" title="16 General information about the FAQ">
<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-whatisfaq" rel="section" title="1.1 What is this FAQ?">
<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-whatisdebian" rel="section" title="1.2 What is Debian GNU/Linux?">
<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-linux" rel="section" title="1.3 OK, now I know what Debian is... what is Linux?!">
<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-non-linux" rel="section" title="1.4 Does Debian just do GNU/Linux?">
<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-difference" rel="section" title="1.5 What is the difference between Debian GNU/Linux and other Linux distributions? Why should I choose Debian over some other distribution?">
<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-gnu" rel="section" title="1.6 How does the Debian project fit in or compare with the Free Software Foundation's GNU project?">
<link href="ch-basic_defs.en.html#s-pronunciation" rel="section" title="1.7 How does one pronounce Debian and what does this word mean?">
<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-version" rel="section" title="2.1 What is the latest version of Debian?">
<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-updatestable" rel="section" title="2.2 Are there package upgrades in `stable'?">
<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-boot-floppies" rel="section" title="2.3 Where/how can I get the Debian installation disks?">
<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-cdrom" rel="section" title="2.4 How do I install the Debian from CD-ROMs?">
<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-cdimage-symlinks" rel="section" title="2.5 Why does the official stable released CD-ROM contain symlinks for `frozen' and `unstable'? I thought this CD contains just `stable'!">
<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-remoteinstall" rel="section" title="2.6 Can I get and install Debian directly from a remote Internet site?">
<link href="ch-getting.en.html#s-alternativebootinstaller" rel="section" title="2.7 Are there any alternative strategies for booting the system installer?">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1" rel="section" title="3.1 Which Debian distribution (stable/testing/unstable) is better for me?">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.2" rel="section" title="3.2 But what about Knoppix, Linex, Ubuntu, and others?">
<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-arches" rel="section" title="4.1 On what hardware architectures/systems does Debian GNU/Linux run?">
<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-otherdistribs" rel="section" title="4.2 How compatible is Debian with other distributions of Linux?">
<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-otherunices" rel="section" title="4.3 How source code compatible is Debian with other Unix systems?">
<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-otherpackages" rel="section" title="4.4 Can I use Debian packages (".deb" files) on my Red Hat/Slackware/... Linux system? Can I use Red Hat packages (".rpm" files) on my Debian GNU/Linux system?">
<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-non-debian-programs" rel="section" title="4.5 How should I install a non-Debian program?">
<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-termcap" rel="section" title="4.6 Why can't I compile programs that require libtermcap?">
<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-accelx" rel="section" title="4.7 Why can't I install AccelX?">
<link href="ch-compat.en.html#s-motifnls" rel="section" title="4.8 Why do my old XFree 2.1 Motif applications crash?">
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-apps" rel="section" title="5.1 What types of applications and development software are available for Debian GNU/Linux?">
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-softwareauthors" rel="section" title="5.2 Who wrote all that software?">
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-pkglist" rel="section" title="5.3 How can I get a current list of programs that have been packaged for Debian?">
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-buildenv" rel="section" title="5.4 How can I install a developer's environment to build packages?">
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-missing" rel="section" title="5.5 What is missing from Debian GNU/Linux?">
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-no-devs" rel="section" title="5.6 Why do I get "ld: cannot find -lfoo" messages when compiling programs? Why aren't there any libfoo.so files in Debian library packages?">
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-java" rel="section" title="5.7 (How) Does Debian support Java?">
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-isitdebian" rel="section" title="5.8 How can I check that I am using a Debian system, and what version is it?">
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-nonenglish" rel="section" title="5.9 How does Debian support non-English languages?">
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-pine" rel="section" title="5.10 Where is pine?">
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-qmail" rel="section" title="5.11 Where is qmail/ezmlm/djbdns?">
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-flash" rel="section" title="5.12 Where is a player for Flash (SWF)?">
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-googleearth" rel="section" title="5.13 Where is Google Earth?">
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-voip" rel="section" title="5.14 Where is VoIP software?">
<link href="ch-software.en.html#s-nonfreewireless" rel="section" title="5.15 I have a wireless network card which doesn't work with Linux. What should I do?">
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-dists" rel="section" title="6.1 How many Debian distributions are there?">
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-codenames" rel="section" title="6.2 What are all those names like etch, lenny, etc.?">
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-sid" rel="section" title="6.3 What about "sid"?">
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-stable" rel="section" title="6.4 What does the stable directory contain?">
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-testing" rel="section" title="6.5 What does the testing distribution contain?">
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-unstable" rel="section" title="6.6 What does the unstable distribution contain?">
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-dirtree" rel="section" title="6.7 What are all those directories at the Debian FTP archives?">
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-archsections" rel="section" title="6.8 What are all those directories inside <samp>dists/stable/main</samp>?">
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-source" rel="section" title="6.9 Where is the source code?">
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-pools" rel="section" title="6.10 What's in the <samp>pool</samp> directory?">
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-incoming" rel="section" title="6.11 What is "incoming"?">
<link href="ch-ftparchives.en.html#s-ownrepository" rel="section" title="6.12 How do I set up my own apt-able repository?">
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-package" rel="section" title="7.1 What is a Debian package?">
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-deb-format" rel="section" title="7.2 What is the format of a Debian binary package?">
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-pkgname" rel="section" title="7.3 Why are Debian package file names so long?">
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-controlfile" rel="section" title="7.4 What is a Debian control file?">
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-conffile" rel="section" title="7.5 What is a Debian conffile?">
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-maintscripts" rel="section" title="7.6 What is a Debian preinst, postinst, prerm, and postrm script?">
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-priority" rel="section" title="7.7 What is an <em>Essential</em>, <em>Required</em>, <em>Important</em>, <em>Standard</em>, <em>Optional</em>, or <em>Extra</em> package?">
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-virtual" rel="section" title="7.8 What is a Virtual Package?">
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-depends" rel="section" title="7.9 What is meant by saying that a package <em>Depends</em>, <em>Recommends</em>, <em>Suggests</em>, <em>Conflicts</em>, <em>Replaces</em> or <em>Provides</em> another package?">
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-pre-depends" rel="section" title="7.10 What is meant by Pre-Depends?">
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-pkgstatus" rel="section" title="7.11 What is meant by <em>unknown</em>, <em>install</em>, <em>remove</em>, <em>purge</em> and <em>hold</em> in the package status?">
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-puttingonhold" rel="section" title="7.12 How do I put a package on hold?">
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-sourcepkgs" rel="section" title="7.13 How do I install a source package?">
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-sourcebuild" rel="section" title="7.14 How do I build binary packages from a source package?">
<link href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html#s-creatingdebs" rel="section" title="7.15 How do I create Debian packages myself?">
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-pkgprogs" rel="section" title="8.1 What programs does Debian provide for managing its packages?">
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-updaterunning" rel="section" title="8.2 Debian claims to be able to update a running program; how is this accomplished?">
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-whatpackages" rel="section" title="8.3 How can I tell what packages are already installed on a Debian system?">
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-listfiles" rel="section" title="8.4 How to display the files of a package installed?">
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-filesearch" rel="section" title="8.5 How can I find out what package produced a particular file?">
<link href="ch-pkgtools.en.html#s-datapackages" rel="section" title="8.6 Why doesn't get `foo-data' removed when I uninstall `foo'? How do I make sure old unused library-packages get purged?">
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-howtocurrent" rel="section" title="9.1 How can I keep my Debian system current?">
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-upgradesingle" rel="section" title="9.2 Must I go into single user mode in order to upgrade a package?">
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-savedebs" rel="section" title="9.3 Do I have to keep all those .deb archive files on my disk?">
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-keepingalog" rel="section" title="9.4 How can I keep a log of the packages I added to the system? I'd like to know when which package upgrades and removals have occured!">
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-autoupdate" rel="section" title="9.5 Can I automatically update the system?">
<link href="ch-uptodate.en.html#s-aptproxy" rel="section" title="9.6 I have several machines how can I download the updates only one time?">
<link href="ch-kernel.en.html#s-non-debian-kernel" rel="section" title="10.1 Can I install and compile a kernel without some Debian-specific tweaking?">
<link href="ch-kernel.en.html#s-customkernel" rel="section" title="10.2 What tools does Debian provide to build custom kernels?">
<link href="ch-kernel.en.html#s-custombootdisk" rel="section" title="10.3 How can I make a custom boot floppy?">
<link href="ch-kernel.en.html#s-modules" rel="section" title="10.4 What special provisions does Debian provide to deal with modules?">
<link href="ch-kernel.en.html#s-removeoldkernel" rel="section" title="10.5 Can I safely de-install an old kernel package, and if so, how?">
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-papersize" rel="section" title="11.1 How can I ensure that all programs use the same paper size?">
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-hardwareaccess" rel="section" title="11.2 How can I provide access to hardware peripherals, without compromising security?">
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-consolefont" rel="section" title="11.3 How do I load a console font on startup the Debian way?">
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-appdefaults" rel="section" title="11.4 How can I configure an X11 program's application defaults?">
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-booting" rel="section" title="11.5 Every distribution seems to have a different boot-up method. Tell me about Debian's.">
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-custombootscripts" rel="section" title="11.6 It looks as if Debian does not use <samp>rc.local</samp> to customize the boot process; what facilities are provided?">
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-interconffiles" rel="section" title="11.7 How does the package management system deal with packages that contain configuration files for other packages?">
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-divert" rel="section" title="11.8 How do I override a file installed by a package, so that a different version can be used instead?">
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-localpackages" rel="section" title="11.9 How can I have my locally-built package included in the list of available packages that the package management system knows about?">
<link href="ch-customizing.en.html#s-diverse" rel="section" title="11.10 Some users like mawk, others like gawk; some like vim, others like elvis; some like trn, others like tin; how does Debian support diversity?">
<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-debiandocs" rel="section" title="12.1 What other documentation exists on and for a Debian system?">
<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-onlineresources" rel="section" title="12.2 Are there any on-line resources for discussing Debian?">
<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-searchtools" rel="section" title="12.3 Is there a quick way to search for information on Debian GNU/Linux?">
<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-buglogs" rel="section" title="12.4 Are there logs of known bugs?">
<link href="ch-support.en.html#s-bugreport" rel="section" title="12.5 How do I report a bug in Debian?">
<link href="ch-contributing.en.html#s-contrib" rel="section" title="13.1 How can I become a Debian software developer?">
<link href="ch-contributing.en.html#s-contribresources" rel="section" title="13.2 How can I contribute resources to the Debian project?">
<link href="ch-contributing.en.html#s-supportingorganizations" rel="section" title="13.3 How can I contribute financially to the Debian project?">
<link href="ch-redistrib.en.html#s-sellcds" rel="section" title="14.1 Can I make and sell Debian CDs?">
<link href="ch-redistrib.en.html#s-packagednonfree" rel="section" title="14.2 Can Debian be packaged with non-free software?">
<link href="ch-redistrib.en.html#s-childistro" rel="section" title="14.3 I am making a special Linux distribution for a "vertical market". Can I use Debian GNU/Linux for the guts of a Linux system and add my own applications on top of it?">
<link href="ch-redistrib.en.html#s-commercialdebs" rel="section" title="14.4 Can I put my commercial program in a Debian "package" so that it installs effortlessly on any Debian system?">
<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html#s-i18n" rel="section" title="15.1 Extended support for non-English users">
<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html#s-dependencybasedboot" rel="section" title="15.2 Faster booting: Dependency based boot sequence">
<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html#s-di" rel="section" title="15.3 Improvements in the Debian Installer">
<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html#s-morearches" rel="section" title="15.4 More architectures">
<link href="ch-nexttime.en.html#s-morekernels" rel="section" title="15.5 More kernels">
<link href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-authors" rel="section" title="16.1 Authors">
<link href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-feedback" rel="section" title="16.2 Feedback">
<link href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-latest" rel="section" title="16.3 Availability">
<link href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-docformat" rel="section" title="16.4 Document format">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.1" rel="subsection" title="3.1.1 You asked me to install stable, but in stable so and so hardware is not detected/working. What should I do?">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.2" rel="subsection" title="3.1.2 Will there be different different versions of packages in different distributions?">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.3" rel="subsection" title="3.1.3 The stable distributions really contains outdated packages. Just look at Kde, Gnome, Xorg or even the kernel. They are very old. Why is it so?">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.4" rel="subsection" title="3.1.4 If I were to decide to change to another distribution, Can I do that?">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.5" rel="subsection" title="3.1.5 Could you tell me whether to install testing or unstable?">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.6" rel="subsection" title="3.1.6 You are talking about testing being broken. What do you mean by that?">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.7" rel="subsection" title="3.1.7 Why is it that testing could be broken for months? Wont the fixes introduced in unstable flow directly down into testing?">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.8" rel="subsection" title="3.1.8 From an administrator's point of view, Which distribution requires more attention?">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.9" rel="subsection" title="3.1.9 What happens when a new release is made?">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.10" rel="subsection" title="3.1.10 I have a working Desktop/cluster with Debian installed. How do I know which distribution I am running?">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.11" rel="subsection" title="3.1.11 I am currently tracking stable. Can I change to testing or unstable? If so, How?">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.12" rel="subsection" title="3.1.12 I am currently tracking testing (lenny). What will happen when a release is made? Will I still be tracking testing or will my machine be running the new stable distribution?">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.1.13" rel="subsection" title="3.1.13 I am still confused. What did you say I should install?">
<link href="ch-choosing.en.html#s3.2.1" rel="subsection" title="3.2.1 I know that Knoppix/Linex/Ubuntu/... is Debian-based. So after installing it on the hard disk, can I use 'apt' package tools on it?">
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<p><a name="ch-compat"></a></p>
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</p>
<hr>
<h1>
The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ
<br>Chapter 4 - Compatibility issues
</h1>
<hr>
<h2><a name="s-arches"></a>4.1 On what hardware architectures/systems does Debian GNU/Linux run?</h2>
<p>
Debian GNU/Linux includes complete source-code for all of the included
programs, so it should work on all systems which are supported by the Linux
kernel; see the <code><a
href="http://en.tldp.org/FAQ/Linux-FAQ/intro.html#DOES-LINUX-RUN-ON-MY-COMPUTER">Linux
FAQ</a></code> for details.
</p>
<p>
The current Debian GNU/Linux release, 4.0, contains a complete, binary
distribution for the following architectures:
</p>
<p>
<em>i386</em>: this covers systems based on Intel and compatible processors,
including Intel's 386, 486, Pentium, Pentium Pro, Pentium II (both Klamath and
Celeron), and Pentium III, and most compatible processors by AMD, Cyrix and
others.
</p>
<p>
<em>amd64</em>: this covers systems based on AMD 64bit CPUs with AMD64
extension and all Intel CPUs with EM64T extension, and a common 64bit
userspace.
</p>
<p>
<em>alpha</em>: Compaq/Digital's Alpha systems.
</p>
<p>
<em>sparc</em>: this covers Sun's SPARC and most UltraSPARC systems.
</p>
<p>
<em>powerpc</em>: this covers some IBM/Motorola PowerPC machines, including
CHRP, PowerMac and PReP machines.
</p>
<p>
<em>arm</em>: ARM and StrongARM machines.
</p>
<p>
<em>mips</em>: SGI's big-endian MIPS systems, Indy and Indigo2;
<em>mipsel</em>: little-endian MIPS machines, Digital DECstations.
</p>
<p>
<em>hppa</em>: Hewlett-Packard's PA-RISC machines (712, C3000, L2000, A500).
</p>
<p>
<em>ia64</em>: Intel IA-64 ("Itanium") computers.
</p>
<p>
<em>s390</em>: IBM S/390 mainframe systems.
</p>
<p>
The development of binary distributions of Debian for Sparc64 (UltraSPARC
native) architectures is currently underway.
</p>
<p>
Support for the <em>m68k</em> architecture was dropped in this release, because
it did not meet the criteria set by the Debian Release Managers. This
architecture covers Amigas and ATARIs having a Motorola 680x0 processor for
x>=2; with MMU. However, the port is still active and available for
installation even if not a part of this official stable release and might be
reactivated for future releases.
</p>
<p>
For more information on the available ports see the <code><a
href="http://www.debian.org/ports/">ports pages at the website</a></code>.
</p>
<p>
For further information on booting, partitioning your drive, enabling PCMCIA
(PC Card) devices and similar issues please follow the instructions given in
the Installation Manual, which is available from our WWW site at <code><a
href="http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/installmanual">http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/installmanual</a></code>.
</p>
<hr>
<h2><a name="s-otherdistribs"></a>4.2 How compatible is Debian with other distributions of Linux?</h2>
<p>
Debian developers communicate with other Linux distribution creators in an
effort to maintain binary compatibility across Linux distributions. Most
commercial Linux products run as well under Debian as they do on the system
upon which they were built.
</p>
<p>
Debian GNU/Linux adheres to the <code><a
href="http://www.pathname.com/fhs/">Linux Filesystem Hierarchy
Standard</a></code>. However, there is room for interpretation in some of the
rules within this standard, so there may be slight differences between a Debian
system and other Linux systems.
</p>
<p>
Debian GNU/Linux supports software developed for the <code><a
href="http://www.linuxbase.org/">Linux Standard Base</a></code>. The LSB is a
specification for allowing the same binary package to be used on multiple
distributions. The Debian Etch release is Certified for LSB Release 3.1, see
the <code><a
href="https://www.linux-foundation.org/lsb-cert/productdir.php">Linux
Foundation Certification webpage</a></code>. Discussion and coordination of
efforts towards ensuring Debian meets the requirements of the Linux Standard
Base is taking place on the <code><a
href="http://lists.debian.org/debian-lsb/">debian-lsb mailing list</a></code>.
</p>
<hr>
<h2><a name="s-otherunices"></a>4.3 How source code compatible is Debian with other Unix systems?</h2>
<p>
For most applications Linux source code is compatible with other Unix systems.
It supports almost everything that is available in System V Unix systems and
the free and commercial BSD-derived systems. However in the Unix business such
claim has nearly no value because there is no way to prove it. In the software
development area complete compatibility is required instead of compatibility in
"about most" cases. So years ago the need for standards arose, and
nowadays POSIX.1 (IEEE Standard 1003.1-1990) is one of the major standards for
source code compatibility in Unix-like operating systems.
</p>
<p>
Linux is intended to adhere to POSIX.1, but the POSIX standards cost real money
and the POSIX.1 (and FIPS 151-2) certification is quite expensive; this made it
more difficult for the Linux developers to work on complete POSIX conformance.
The certification costs make it unlikely that Debian will get an official
conformance certification even if it completely passed the validation suite.
(The validation suite is now freely available, so it is expected that more
people will work on POSIX.1 issues.)
</p>
<p>
Unifix GmbH (Braunschweig, Germany) developed a Linux system that has been
certified to conform to FIPS 151-2 (a superset of POSIX.1). This technology
was available in Unifix' own distribution called Unifix Linux 2.0 and in
Lasermoon's Linux-FT.
</p>
<hr>
<h2><a name="s-otherpackages"></a>4.4 Can I use Debian packages (".deb" files) on my Red Hat/Slackware/... Linux system? Can I use Red Hat packages (".rpm" files) on my Debian GNU/Linux system?</h2>
<p>
Different Linux distributions use different package formats and different
package management programs.
</p>
<dl>
<dt><strong>You probably can:</strong></dt>
<dd>
<p>
A program to unpack a Debian package onto a Linux host that is been built from
a `foreign' distribution is available, and will generally work, in the sense
that files will be unpacked. The converse is probably also true, that is, a
program to unpack a Red Hat or Slackware package on a host that is based on
Debian GNU/Linux will probably succeed in unpacking the package and placing
most files in their intended directories. This is largely a consequence of the
existence (and broad adherence to) the Linux Filesystem Hierarchy Standard.
The <code><a href="http://packages.debian.org/alien">Alien</a></code> package
is used to convert between different package formats.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><strong>You probably do not want to:</strong></dt>
<dd>
<p>
Most package managers write administrative files when they are used to unpack
an archive. These administrative files are generally not standardized.
Therefore, the effect of unpacking a Debian package on a `foreign' host will
have unpredictable (certainly not useful) effects on the package manager on
that system. Likewise, utilities from other distributions might succeed in
unpacking their archives on Debian systems, but will probably cause the Debian
package management system to fail when the time comes to upgrade or remove some
packages, or even simply to report exactly what packages are present on a
system.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><strong>A better way:</strong></dt>
<dd>
<p>
The Linux File System Standard (and therefore Debian GNU/Linux) requires that
subdirectories under <samp>/usr/local/</samp> be entirely under the user's
discretion. Therefore, users can unpack `foreign' packages into this
directory, and then manage their configuration, upgrade and removal
individually.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<hr>
<h2><a name="s-non-debian-programs"></a>4.5 How should I install a non-Debian program?</h2>
<p>
Files under the directory <samp>/usr/local/</samp> are not under the control of
the Debian package management system. Therefore, it is good practice to place
the source code for your program in /usr/local/src/. For example, you might
extract the files for a package named "foo.tar" into the directory
<samp>/usr/local/src/foo</samp>. After you compile them, place the binaries in
<samp>/usr/local/bin/</samp>, the libraries in <samp>/usr/local/lib/</samp>,
and the configuration files in <samp>/usr/local/etc/</samp>.
</p>
<p>
If your programs and/or files really must be placed in some other directory,
you could still store them in <samp>/usr/local/</samp>, and build the
appropriate symbolic links from the required location to its location in
<samp>/usr/local/</samp>, e.g., you could make the link
</p>
<pre>
ln -s /usr/local/bin/foo /usr/bin/foo
</pre>
<p>
In any case, if you obtain a package whose copyright allows redistribution, you
should consider making a Debian package of it, and uploading it for the Debian
system. Guidelines for becoming a package developer are included in the Debian
Policy manual (see <a href="ch-support.en.html#s-debiandocs">What other
documentation exists on and for a Debian system?, Section 12.1</a>).
</p>
<hr>
<h2><a name="s-termcap"></a>4.6 Why can't I compile programs that require libtermcap?</h2>
<p>
Debian uses the <samp>terminfo</samp> database and the <samp>ncurses</samp>
library of terminal interface routes, rather than the <samp>termcap</samp>
database and the <samp>termcap</samp> library. Users who are compiling
programs that require some knowledge of the terminal interface should replace
references to <samp>libtermcap</samp> with references to
<samp>libncurses</samp>.
</p>
<p>
To support binaries that have already been linked with the <samp>termcap</samp>
library, and for which you do not have the source, Debian provides a package
called <code>termcap-compat</code>. This provides both
<samp>libtermcap.so.2</samp> and <samp>/etc/termcap</samp>. Install this
package if the program fails to run with the error message "can't load
library 'libtermcap.so.2'", or complains about a missing
<samp>/etc/termcap</samp> file.
</p>
<hr>
<h2><a name="s-accelx"></a>4.7 Why can't I install AccelX?</h2>
<p>
AccelX uses the <samp>termcap</samp> library for installation. See <a
href="#s-termcap">Why can't I compile programs that require libtermcap?,
Section 4.6</a> above.
</p>
<hr>
<h2><a name="s-motifnls"></a>4.8 Why do my old XFree 2.1 Motif applications crash?</h2>
<p>
You need to install the <code>motifnls</code> package, which provides the
XFree-2.1 configuration files needed to allow Motif applications compiled under
XFree-2.1 to run under XFree-3.1.
</p>
<p>
Without these files, some Motif applications compiled on other machines (such
as Netscape) may crash when attempting to copy or paste from or to a text
field, and may also exhibit other problems.
</p>
<hr>
<p>
[ <a href="ch-choosing.en.html">previous</a> ]
[ <a href="index.en.html#contents">Contents</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-basic_defs.en.html">1</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-getting.en.html">2</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-choosing.en.html">3</a> ]
[ 4 ]
[ <a href="ch-software.en.html">5</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-ftparchives.en.html">6</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-pkg_basics.en.html">7</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-pkgtools.en.html">8</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-uptodate.en.html">9</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-kernel.en.html">10</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-customizing.en.html">11</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-support.en.html">12</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-contributing.en.html">13</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-redistrib.en.html">14</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-nexttime.en.html">15</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-faqinfo.en.html">16</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-software.en.html">next</a> ]
</p>
<hr>
<p>
The Debian GNU/Linux FAQ
</p>
<address>
version 4.0.3, 6 August 2008<br>
<br>
Authors are listed at <a href="ch-faqinfo.en.html#s-authors">Debian FAQ Authors</a><br>
<br>
</address>
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