Random questions and comments about RPM files

English Applications
1

Even though everything worked out okay I have a question as to how/why this happened the way that it happened.

I wanted to install Skype so I went to their website and downloaded the OpenSUSE Skype package and installed it. But it apparently was for x86 processors and I’m using an x86_64 processor. Also there were some library issues. So rather than resolve that I decided to just install a version of Skype from the repos using Webpin.

Before that though I attempted to remove the original Skype package by using the rpm -e skype command. But it informed me that even though Skype was an installed package it couldn’t completely the operation for some reason.

So I decided to just install Skype from Webpin and it was successful. But I noticed that the old Skype icon is nolonger listed in applications and the new Skype icon is listed in a different section of my application icons under the Gnome equivalent of the Start button. When typing “skype” into the terminal the new working version of Skype comes up, instead of the old non-working version.

I’m assuming this means the other version was removed.

How exactly do RPM systems or more specifically OpenSUSE in general handle these issues? How would my computer know to remove an RPM file of the same application that was installed by hand and replace it with the version installed from the repos?

Also, two more things. Where in the GUI can I go to view applications that have been manually installed from RPM files if I don’t want to use the CLI to manually remove or view them? On Ubuntu (and also Debian, I assume) they show right up alongside packages installed from the repos in Synaptic. Or just see what packages are installed in general? I searched for “Skype” in both the “Software Managment” and “webpin” sections of Yast but didn’t get any results. Is there some equivalent application to Synaptic for OpenSUSE that I overlooked?

Also, why is it that in Webpin it won’t do anything to differentiate the packages you already have installed from the ones that you don’t?

I guess I’m just really used to the way Ubuntu does things and OpenSUSE (or RPM systems in general) seem sort of chaotic by comparison. But it’s probably just me not being used to the way things work around here. Thanks in advance to anyone who can answer my questions or point me towards a newb friendly guide that explains them.

2

rpm -e skype

will remove skype regardless of how it was installed. So if you did that again, even though you installed skype from the repo’s - It will still be removed.

When it removed skype, it may be that it was unable to remove some fraction of a directory, don’t know really.

Manually installed .rpm files will show in yast - Software Management
Filter by repo and view ‘System’

3

You do not install from Webpin at all.

Webpin is only a website with a search function. You ask with a string and an openSUSE level and it searches within the repos it knows. That website does not know anything about your system (would be bad if it could upload all sorts of data about your system imho).

When you decide to install something Webpin found for you, you can either add the repo and do the install yourself (wth zypper or YaST > Software) or use the one-click, which essentialy does the same. Thus there is no difference between the installs done regardless if you have found it with Webpin or by any other means.

4

Also what version of Suse? 11.2 should have all the libraries needed for Skype.

5

Thanks for the info everyone.