18.4. Sources Management

Sources are package repositories where you can find packages to install on your Mandrake Linux. It can be a local directory on your hard drive, a CD-ROM, or even a remote directory somewhere on a network – the Internet, for example. There is always a specially defined source: the one from which you installed your system. Now we will explore sources management.

18.4.1. Adding Sources

Imagine you find a wonderful CD-ROM with plenty of packages, or a directory on the web. This is clearly a new source of packages and you would like to use it with RpmDrake. Then you must define a new source by clicking on the Define sources button.

In the new pop-up window, click on New to define a new source. You then see the following dialog:

Figure 18-7. Adding a Source in RpmDrake

In every case, you must give your source a name: this name will be used to identify the source later.

You can define several different source types, such as:

18.4.2. Updating Sources And Packages

From time to time, the packages contained in a source may change, especially if they are not on a CD-ROM: some RPM files may be deleted or added. To keep the internal database synchronized with the actual state of your various sources, it is necessary to update them (the sources).

You can achieve this operation very easily by clicking on the Reload lists button. But note that it can take a rather long time: as each package is being checked to see if it needs to be updated, and the dependencies are recalculated to reflect the changes.

Now suppose the content of a source has changed. Usually, it means some packages were added or changed: a package is changed when the "old" release is buggy or insecure, or simply because there is a new and better release available. It is possible that some old packages were installed on your system, due to a lack of available, updated packages.

So, after updating the source, you have the opportunity to update some packages installed on your system and to take advantage of various new releases: you can see them in the Installable list: they appear in a different color. Simply select and install them, and there's no need to say we strongly suggest you do this...


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