README for Customized Alien v7.5 ================================ EMAC Linux 2.5 is based upon the Debian distribution of Linux. Many customers have requested that dpkg (The Debian package manager) be included as part of the distribution. Unfortunately, dpkg depends upon a few text files which store package distribution data. The size of these files makes including a full-featured dpkg impossible. A special customized version of Alien, which will run on RedHat systems, is included in on this CD. Alien is a utility that allows conversion of packages between RPM, DEB, and standard .tar.gz formats. The included version is based upon the RPM included with RedHat 6.2. For previous editions of RedHat, please install this package correctly. This utility is easy to use. Locate the package you wish to install using the search engine at http://packages.debian.org. Note that EMAC Linux 2.4 is based on the Debian distribution "Woody." Download the package you want to install, along with any dependencies, to a work area on your RedHat system. For each .deb file you downloaded, issue the command: alien -t This will convert each deb package to a standard tarball (tgz). Now, FTP each of the tarballs you just created to the SiB. Change to the filesystem root of the SiB, and issue a command similar to: tar zxvf /path/tarball.tgz This will unpack the tarball to the filesystem on the SiB. It should be noted that the SiB filesystem should be mounted read-write before unpacking the tarball. Additionally, if any shared libraries are added, be sure they are moved to /lib and that ldconfig is run (ldconfig is not included with the standard SiB installations before build 2.4.8). === EMAC Linux Technical Support http://www.emacinc.com/support/