h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, I hadn't until just now... and yes, there are a few. If the worse comes to the worse (which it probably will) I could use that option. But where's the fun in that, I ask you? I've learnt as much about Linux in the past three days than I have in the past three months

Besides, past experience with downloaded RPMs has been at least as bad as with compiling stuff from source... though, that could be as much to do with my inexperience as anything!

the general rule for downloading rpm's is to hop over to your distributions website, and look for them there. that way all the stupidly renamed files that are used in the dependancies are the same as with the rest of your system. it also gets around the heavy patching of code that goes on as well.

If I'm honest, I've not really been trying to install new stuff longer than the few days. I downloaded a couple of (non-Mandrake) RPM packages and didn't have much luck, so I moved on to binary tarballs which worked fine if a bit mysteriously, and then I thought I'd give this compiling lark a go. I think I'll give the packages another go now...

And I've never yet managed to download anything useful from any Mandrake website... and it seems rather too corporate for my tastes.

Have you tried using RPMfind to locate RPM packages?
(http://speakeasy.rpmfind.net/linux/rpm2html/search.php?query=&submit=Search+...&system=mandrake&arch=)

Personally, I have urpmi (the GUI component being RPMdrake or "Software Manager", I think its called) set up to be able to download packages from RPMfind. The beauty of college high-speed internet.

Jeff

Thanks, Jeff! I found rpmfind only last night, and it looks very useful. Getting urpmi to look there automatically is dastardly cunning though! I think I'll take inspiration from that, if you don't mind