Software Package Types

The software packages on RPM sites like Red Hat and rpmfind.net will have the file extension .rpm. RPM packages that contain source code have an extension .src.rpm. Other packages, such as those in the form of source code that you need to compile, come in a variety of compressed archives. These commonly have the extensions .tar.gz, .tgz, or .tar.bz2. They are explained in detail later in the chapter. Table 29-2 lists several common file extensions that you will find for the great variety of Linux software packages available to you.

Table 29-2: Linux Software Package File Extensions
Extension	File
.rpm	Software package created with the Red Hat Software Package Manager, used on Red Hat, Caldera, Mandrake, and SuSE distributions.
.src.rpm	Software packages that are source code versions of applications, created with the Red Hat Software Package Manager.
.gz	gzip compressed file (use gunzip to decompress).
.bz2	bzip2 compressed file (use bunzip2 to decompress, also use the j option with tar, as in xvjf).
.tar	A tar archive file, use tar with xvf to extract.
.tar.gz	gzip compressed tar archive file. Use gunzip to decompress and tar to extract. Use the z option with tar, as in xvzf to both decompress and extract in one step.
.tar.bz2	bzip2 compressed tar archive file. Extract with tar -xvzj.
.tz	tar archive file compressed with the compress command.
.Z	File compressed with the compress command (use the decompress command to decompress).
.deb	Debian Linux package.