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I’ve written about using apt-get to install packages in Ubuntu and Debian. This function pulls mainly from repositories, but what to do with a package that’s already downloaded into your home directory or Desktop?
Using the apt-get application is the quickest way to find and install debian packages. The installation part is done by an application named dpkg. Dpkg doesn’t have to be used by apt-get, you can use it manually as well.
If you have an rpm file for a package you wish to install, and if you cannot find a .deb debian package in any of the Ubuntu repositories or elsewhere, you can use the alien package converter application to install the .rpm file.
Sometimes you’ll find a download of a deb file that you cannot find in the repositories, or a suitable rpm file for your openSuse installation. If that’s the case you can attempt using alien.
1. su (type root password)
2. Install alien: zypper in alien
3. Run: alien -r packagename.deb –scripts
Thats the command to convert to rpm from deb, you should probably use –scripts because some packages need scripts that run and they need to be converted as well. So now you’re all done. Check to see if the application works. It may not work in all cases.
