| Maximum RPM: Taking the Red Hat Package Manager to the Limit | ||
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RPM makes it easy to build packages. Just as with the use of pristine sources, the fact that the build process is simple is an even greater advantage to the third-party package builders responsible for many packages, than it is to a one-package software development house. But in either case, RPM's ease of building is a welcome relief. The following sections document some of the ways that RPM makes building packages a straightforward process.
One of the biggest problems facing developers is reproducing a particular build. This single problem is the main reason so much effort is put into creating and deploying version control systems to manage sources.
While RPM cannot compete with a full-blown revision control system, it does an excellent job of keeping in one place everything required to build a particular version of a package. Remember the source package we mentioned above? With one command, RPM can open the package, extract the sources, patch them, perform a build, and create a new binary package, ready for your users. The best part is that the binary package will be the same every time you build it because everything needed to create it is kept in one source package.
As we mentioned above, completely building a package takes only one RPM command. This makes it easy to set up automated build procedures that can build one hundred packages as easily as one. Anything from a single package consisting of one application to the several hundred packages that comprise an entire operating system, can be built automatically using RPM.