Updating your system the Smart way
All Linux distributions have things in common, but many differ in software installation and updating. Gentoo Linux is based on Portage, SUSE uses YaST, Red Hat and Fedora opt for yum, Linspire prefers CNR.... Oh, and don't forget the different package options: RPM, Debian, source, and more esoteric options. Smart Package Manager works with all major distributions, replacing native tools and installing different types of packages.
As an openSUSE user, I've tried YaST, Zen, zypper, apt-get, and Synaptic, but I finally settled down with Smart. My first step after every installation and update is to install it and getting rid of all alternatives.
Smart is currently at version 0.52 and is available under the General Public License (GPL).
Why "Smart"?
Smart's name comes from the algorithms it uses to solve "dependency hell" problems, which result when you want to install a package that depends on other packages that in turn depend on more packages. If you try doing such an installation by hand, you'll end up spending most of your time chasing down the dependencies. Smart not only tries to solve these problems automatically, but also seeks the best possible solution in terms of needed changes. For example, when upgrading a package, it might choose a not-so-new version if it's better for the rest of the installed packages in your system.
Smart is also flexible regarding mirror supports. A mirror is an Internet nide that provides the same contents as in another Web place, called an origin. If you provide several alternative mirrors, Smart will decide which to use based on the history of previous downloads. It chooses the fastest mirrors with the fewest errors or problems. It can do parallel downloads, allows multiple connections to a site, and supports timestamp checking, download resuming, and cached files. It can deal with all the usual protocols: FTP, FTPS, HTTP, HTTPS, SCP, Telnet, LDAP.
Using Smart
Read more...http://www.linux.com/archive/feed/119955
Don
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