how do I uninstall a .tar.gz package 1015

danish

Let's buttume the package is named 'X' and the rpm file is X.rpm. To see the files in X.rpm, *before* installing:

rpm -qlp X.rpm

To see the files 'belonging' to X, *after* installing:

rpm -ql X

to uninstall package X:

rpm -e X

That's a very good approach, especially if you want to learn about such things (which I recommend). As long you're not the type of newbie that complains when installations become more involved. Still, I'd recommend getting and using 'checkinstall' in place of running 'make install'.

The '-a' option says to make an 'archive' copy - preserve ownership, permissions, and timestamps while copying entire directory hierarchys. The '-l' option says to avoid actually copying the files and instead create new 'links' to the files. (The same physical file can have more than one name, or link, to it.) This avoids the doubling of disk requirements that a 'pure' copy would require (it's not completely free, as directories are always copied and not linked). This 'trick' doesn't work across filesystems, of course.

It's also a bit risky, as a number of programs don't understand about multiple links to the same file. If you're new to Linux-Unix, I can't recommend it as a way to preserve old copies of files during application installation.

-- The gods that smiled on your birth are now laughing out loud.