Talk:Package format

Material from Installer
The most popular format for Linux operating systems is the Red Hat Package Manager (or RPM). It is used by SUSE, Red Hat and Mandrake distributions, among others. The Debian Linux distribution and others based on it use deb packages. Solaris uses the pkg format for packages; HP-UX uses software depots. Programs that manipulate these packages are called package management systems.

In contrast, Gentoo uses the Portage system, and FreeBSD uses a collection of ports. These are not packages, but rather a set of instructions that permit the administrator to compile each piece of software to their own specficiations, while at the same time managing upgrades and requirements. This sort of software management is unique and not common.

User:Samsara (talk • contribs) 22:37, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Define terms
What is the difference between recipe packages and source packages? I had never heard of recipe packages before reading the article. Gobo Linux has recipes, but they seem more like a type of source packages. –82.203.170.147 13:43, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Merger Proposal
the page Linux package formats does not provide any additional information or discussion of package formats as the title and the original intention seem to suggest. on the other hand the List of software package management systems does contain some additional information beyond a list. therefore the pages may as well be merged together. 58.47.183.147 (talk) 06:32, 9 August 2011 (UTC) eMBee


 * I agree, it should be merged. - Ahunt (talk) 11:46, 9 August 2011 (UTC)
 * I disagree, there are some package formats that have no associated package manager, in particular: AppImages, AppShell and klik, therefore I don't think they belong at List of software package management systems. --Jerebin (talk) 00:10, 16 August 2011 (UTC)
 * It seems klik is in fact already at the List of software package management systems article under "meta-package manager". However, I'm pretty sure klik can't be considered a package manager, neither the software I mentioned above. --Jerebin (talk) 00:15, 16 August 2011 (UTC)

RPM?
Why is RPM not mentioned? Red Hat Enterprise Linux is the most widely used enterprise distribution and quite a number of other community based distros use the format or support it, SuSE and Fedora being the biggest ones in terms of installed systems. Plus if Debian's package format is used as an example, its a disservice to users to not mention RPM when enthusiast package formats that aren't very notable like Puppy's and Pardus' are used. 142.196.225.209 (talk) 23:54, 19 November 2013 (UTC)


 * A number of unsourced entries were cleaned up a while ago. If you have a reference you can cite it can be added. - Ahunt (talk) 01:54, 20 November 2013 (UTC)

Docker, Flatpak, OVF?
Kindly please complete the table --Ghettobuoy (talk) 01:28, 13 April 2017 (UTC)
 * That is why Wikipedia is the encyclopedia anyone can edit! Just cite refs when you add it, please. - Ahunt (talk) 11:24, 13 April 2017 (UTC)

What is ORB
I'm going to remove ORB for the table of package formats. I have never heard of this format. (I recognize most of the other formats in the table.) There is no citation in the page for it. The ORB link just redirects to this page, so you can't learn about it even if you wanted to. I think it should be removed. I just wanted to mention this in case someone wants to add ORB back with some information about it. 71.225.252.204 (talk) 04:46, 5 February 2021 (UTC)