multi package manager

[sikpuppy]

....
4.3.1 installs downloaded DEB files, but it doesn't check for dependencies. In fact 4.3.1 appears not to check dependencies unless the PPM is used, or the CHECK DEPENDENCIES menu item is used.

So, if I download a .deb package, I can use 4.3.1's pet manager to install it, and it will tell me what dependencies I need - but then I have to go find them, download them, figure out where they need to go, and manually put them there?

And does the .deb have to be compiled for the kernel used in 4.3.1?

You can UNinstall a deb from the Manager, but the only way to install is to click the actual deb file. And yes, you need to resolve the dependencies yourself.

As for whether a DEB file will or won't work...for 4.3.1 it's probably better to use native PET files that have been compiled for the kernel used in that version. The nature of DEB files being small chunks of a larger complete program means that you would be resolving dependencies all day.

[gposil]

If you use the PPM in Dpup or Upup to download and install the deb, it will also download and install dependencies...

[amigo]

Compatibility is not about the different kernel versions -it's about different library versions and the options those libs are compiled with. Many CLI applications will, in fact, work across a broad range of distros, but the more GUI toolkits and other libs that an app uses, the less likely it is to work on various systems.

Puppy has many enthusiastic packagers, so you usually won't have trouble getting someone to create a pet of nearly ana app you want.

[otropogo]

Compatibility is not about the different kernel versions ...
you usually won't have trouble getting someone to create a pet of nearly ana app you want.

Your description is a bit arcane for me, and it seems to contradict what I've been told by others - notably, the author of Linux from Scratch.

Here's a real world problem that I've been unable to find a solution to for some years.

I have a laptop without an internal CDROM drive, but with PCMCIA slots. I also have a pcmcia SCSI adapter and a number of SCSI devices, including hard drives, burners, and scanners that will work on a SCSI chain attached to the laptop via this PCMCIA-SCSI adapter.

There's a module aha152x_cs that enables this PCMCIA-SCSI adapter under Puppy 3.01 RETRO. I've been given to understand that

a) it won't work under later Linux kernels, and

b) it would be a huge amount of work to make it compatible with later kernels

So, if I want to use my SCSI chain, I have to stick with Puppy 3.01 Retro.

Have I been misinformed, or have I misunderstood somehow?

[amigo]

You are thinking of hardware compatibiblity which *is* kernel dependent -more specifically kernel-module dependent. For binary-compatibiblity of programs the heart of the matter is the libs.

This page:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/jaunty/+so ... .6.28-5.12
seems to indicate that that kernel-module is in linux-2.6.28, so I would think you could use that kernel or any later one. What kernel version do you have in 3.01 retro?

[otropogo]

... What kernel version do you have in 3.01 retro?

I don't have it handy. It's 2.6.18 IIRC.