 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2010) |
| Original author(s) | Joey Hess |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 8.95.5 / August 22, 2021 |
| Repository | |
| Written in | Perl |
| Operating system | Linux |
| Type | Package conversion |
| License | GPLv2+ |
| Website | alien-pkg-convert |
Alien is a computer program that converts between different Linux package formats, created by Joey Hess and presently maintained by Kyle Barry. [1]
Alien supports conversion between Linux Standard Base (LSB), LSB-compliant .rpm packages, [2] .deb, Stampede (.slp), Solaris (.pkg) and Slackware (.tgz, .txz, .tbz, .tlz) [3] packages. It is also capable of automatically installing the generated packages, and can try to convert the installation scripts included in the archive as well. Automatic installation should be used with caution since Linux distributions may vary significantly from one another, and using install scripts automatically converted from an Alien format may break the system.
A sample usage of Alien:
$ alien--to-rpm--scripts./mypkg.deb
This will convert mypkg.deb to mypkg.rpm with the preinst, postinst, prerm and postrm scripts from the Debian package (deb) into the RPM package.
Terminal commands for Alien:$ alien${filename}.rpm# Rpm to Deb
$ alien-k${filename}.tar.gz# Tar.gz to Deb
$ alien-d${filename}.tar.bz2# Tar.bz2 to Deb
$ alien--to-deb~/${filename}.tgz# Tgz to Deb
$ alien-r${filename}.deb
It might require Super User Privileges to run the command. If it does then proceed with the commands below $ sudoalien${filename}.rpm# Rpm to Deb
$ sudoalien-k${filename}.tar.gz# Tar.gz to Deb
$ sudoalien-d${filename}.tar.bz2# Tar.bz2 to Deb
$ sudoalien--to-deb~/${filename}.tgz# Tgz to Deb
$ sudoalien-r${filename}.deb
Slackware is a Linux distribution created by Patrick Volkerding in 1993. Originally based on Softlanding Linux System (SLS), Slackware has been the basis for many other Linux distributions, most notably the first versions of SUSE Linux distributions, and is the oldest distribution that is still maintained.
A package manager or package-management system is a collection of software tools that automates the process of installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing computer programs for a computer in a consistent manner.
Advanced package tool, or APT, is a free-software user interface that works with core libraries to handle the installation and removal of software on Debian and Debian-based Linux distributions. APT simplifies the process of managing software on Unix-like computer systems by automating the retrieval, configuration and installation of software packages, either from precompiled files or by compiling source code.
dpkg is the software at the base of the package management system in the free operating system Debian and its numerous derivatives. dpkg is used to install, remove, and provide information about .deb packages.
The Linux Standard Base (LSB) was a joint project by several Linux distributions under the organizational structure of the Linux Foundation to standardize the software system structure, including the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard. LSB was based on the POSIX specification, the Single UNIX Specification (SUS), and several other open standards, but extended them in certain areas.
deb is the format, as well as filename extension of the software package format for the Debian Linux distribution and its derivatives.
pax is an archiving utility available for various operating systems and defined since 1995. Rather than sort out the incompatible options that have crept up between tar and cpio, along with their implementations across various versions of Unix, the IEEE designed new archive utility pax that could support various archive formats with useful options from both archivers. The pax command is available on Unix and Unix-like operating systems and on IBM i, and Microsoft Windows NT until Windows 2000.
Puppy Linux is a family of light-weight Linux distributions that focus on ease of use and minimal memory footprint. The entire system can be run from random-access memory (RAM) with current versions generally taking up about 600 MB (64-bit), 300 MB (32-bit), allowing the boot medium to be removed after the operating system has started. Applications such as AbiWord, Gnumeric and MPlayer are included, along with a choice of lightweight web browsers and a utility for downloading other packages. The distribution was originally developed by Barry Kauler and other members of the community, until Kauler retired in 2013. The tool Woof can build a Puppy Linux distribution from the binary packages of other Linux distributions.
Technical variations of Linux distributions include support for different hardware devices and systems or software package configurations. Organizational differences may be motivated by historical reasons. Other criteria include security, including how quickly security upgrades are available; ease of package management; and number of packages available.
slapt-get is an APT-like package management system for Slackware. Slapt-get tries to emulate the features of Debian's (apt-get) as closely as possible.
BioLinux is a term used in a variety of projects involved in making access to bioinformatics software on a Linux platform easier using one or more of the following methods:
Package format is a type of archive containing computer programs and additional metadata needed by package managers; an instance of this type of archive is called a package. While the archive file format itself may be unchanged, package formats carry additional metadata, such as a manifest file or certain directory layouts. Packages may contain either source code or executable files.
PeaZip is a free and open-source file manager and file archiver for Microsoft Windows, ReactOS, Linux, MacOS and BSD by Giorgio Tani. It supports its native PEA archive format and other mainstream formats, with special focus on handling open formats. Version 9.4.0 supported 234 file extensions.
CheckInstall is a computer program for Unix-like operating systems which eases the installation and uninstallation of software compiled from source by making use of package management systems. After software compilation it can automatically generate a Slackware-, RPM-, or Debian-compatible package that can later be cleanly uninstalled through the appropriate package manager.
The Environment Modules system is a tool to help users manage their Unix or Linux shell environment, by allowing groups of related environment-variable settings to be made or removed dynamically.
The Red Hat Kickstart installation method is used by Fedora, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and related Linux distributions to automatically perform unattended operating system installation and configuration. Red Hat publishes Cobbler as a tool to automate the Kickstart configuration process.
The Debian build toolchain is a collection of software utilities used to create Debian source packages (.dsc) and Debian binary packages from upstream source tarballs.
RPM Package Manager (RPM) is a free and open-source package management system. The name RPM refers to the .rpm file format and the package manager program itself. RPM was intended primarily for Linux distributions; the file format is the baseline package format of the Linux Standard Base.
XZ Utils is a set of free software command-line lossless data compressors, including the programs lzma and xz, for Unix-like operating systems and, from version 5.0 onwards, Microsoft Windows. For compression/decompression the Lempel–Ziv–Markov chain algorithm (LZMA) is used. XZ Utils started as a Unix port of Igor Pavlov's LZMA-SDK that has been adapted to fit seamlessly into Unix environments and their usual structure and behavior.
an alien helper utility
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