Singing the OpenSUSE package manager blues

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by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols (May 23, 2006)

My current favorite desktop Linux is OpenSUSE 10.1. I can say all kinds of good things about it, except when it comes to the package manager. Unfortunately, the package manager, which the administration tool YaST uses for adding new programs and updating old ones, currently has serious problems.

The default package management software in SUSE 9 and 10 was YOU (YaST online update) in YaST2 and the susewatcher system tray applet. This, however, has been replaced by Libzypp in 10.1.

Libzypp is a backend program that uses RPM (RPM Package manager) packages for installing, removing, and querying program packages. This new program is an attempt by Novell to marry the best features of SUSE's yast2 package manager and Ximian's libredcarpet.

This backend software works with the ZMD (ZENworks Management Daemon) to create the new system-tray notification applet, zen-updater.

The idea was a good one. If it worked, users would get a command-line tool for running updates, rug, and a way to provide common handling of packages and patches.

When it works, it works quite well. Cenuij, a UK-based SUSE user, gives an excellent explanation of how the new system works and how to make the most of it.

However, it doesn't work that well all the time. The combination of yast2 and libredcarpet is only half-baked. In my experience, and those of many others, the new package manager is extremely slow and often breaks.

These problems can show up in a number of ways. One common one is that you can't use YaST to install an updated package from a downloaded RPM, because YaST will not accept a local directory as an install source unless it contains a catalog. You can, however, work around this. The trick is to right click on the RPM and hit "Open with Install Software."

Another problem that many people experience is that YaST will appear to let you add a new installation source, like the ever-popular packman.unixheads.com/suse/10.1, but the program won't let you actually save your new choice.

The problem has become so annoying that some people have taken to using an entirely new approach to updating their systems -- Pascal Bleser's SUSE 10.1-specific update of the Smart Package Manager universal Linux package management program. Bleser is the maintainer of the Guru SUSE software repository.

Spin Ink, in his blog, gives an excellent set of directions on how to use the Smart Package Manager in SUSE 10.1.

I've used it, and I've been very pleased with the results.

In the meantime, Novell/SUSE is well aware of the problems, and is working hard on fixing them.

Kevan Barney, Novell's senior PR manager, tells me that, "Our folks in Germany ... are working hard to get those fixed."

"Getting updates is currently completely possible by running "yast2 online_update" or selecting it from the control center menu (requires root access rights). We are putting together an update for the end of next week, which will include fixes for zen-updater (which seems to not work for everybody with the patches currently available) as well as some other fixes," Barney added.

"If you know of any concrete issues which we aren't currently addressing, please let us know in more detail, since we are anxious to make sure our users are taken care of," he concluded.

Given the overall quality of the rest of OpenSUSE 10.1, I'm sure that SUSE developers are working hard on taking care of users and this set of problems in particular.

-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

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