Tell me more ×
Unix & Linux Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for users of Linux, FreeBSD and other Un*x-like operating systems.. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite

I've noticed that repositories in CentOS have the .rpm extension.

  • Are there other extensions?

  • Is .rpm specific to the operating system? i.e. do other linux operating systems have other extensions?

share|improve this question
1  
.rpm is specific to the package manager software, which Red Hat uses, CentOS and other have inherited. Others are free to use it as well, but many other Linux distros use other package managers. – Chris S Jul 31 '12 at 18:14
1  
Historically, RPM stood for RedHat Package Manager, but most people have forgotten that and think it's Repository Package Manager or something similar. – StarNamer Jul 31 '12 at 19:15
The extension does not matter. It matters what file says about that file. You could name any rpm exe instead. See below for pbm`s answer that contains all details. – Nils Aug 3 '12 at 20:01

migrated from serverfault.com Jul 31 '12 at 18:15

1 Answer

up vote 6 down vote accepted

RPM file is not repository. It is type of package that is used in CentOS (and Red Hat and some other distributions). Repository is place that packages are kept and can be downloaded and installed by package manager in your distribution.

Another package format is DEB. It is used by Debian, Ubuntu and their derivatives.

There are also other formats, but that two are most common.

share|improve this answer
Another common distribution that uses rpm is SuSE. – Nils Aug 3 '12 at 19:59

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.