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I've been given some RPM files on CD and want to install them in Ubuntu (10.04) Desktop using a GUI app. Is there a way for me to do this without resorting to the command line?

I'd like to know what GUI app to use, and also how to install an RPM with it.

3 Answers 3

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You can't install RPMs directly on an Ubuntu system because Ubuntu uses the DEB package format.

You can convert the RPMs to DEBs using a gui like PackageConverter which is a front-end for alien. Here's how it looks like:

alt text

Converting the RPMs to DEBs is, however, no guarantee that they will install correctly on your .deb based system much less work as they should.

After you've converted them to DEBs you can double click them in nautilus which will launch the gdebi GUI to help you install them as normal debian packages.

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  • Another GUI to convert between RPM and DEB: launchpad.net/aliengui
    – Li Lo
    Aug 13, 2010 at 2:04
  • From a GUI perspective: From Applications>Ubuntu Software Center, I installed 'alien' (package converter, not video game!) and then I installed the suggested front-end GUI Package Converter .deb software from code.google.com/p/foxoman. The 'Package Converter' item then appeared under Appplications>System Tools. I ran it, converted my .RPM to .deb and installed the resulting Debian package. A beautiful experience. Thanks!
    – John K
    Aug 13, 2010 at 2:40
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Ubuntu is Debian based and therefore uses.deb packages to install. If you want to install .rpm packages, you first should convert them into .deb packages with a conversion software such as alien. Then you can use gdebi or dpkg to install them.

However, caution must be applied by doing that. Even such conversion software does not always create the correct dependencies to other packages. Therefore, the software installer might refuse to install your package because of missing dependencies, or the software might not work very well because not all dependencies have been created and maybe some libraries are missing.

Usually, it is better to find a .deb package if at all possible.

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  • i hate that you always beat me +1
    – myusuf3
    Aug 13, 2010 at 1:47
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There is no popular stable GUI for installing .rpm on Debian or Ubuntu.

Alien can be used to convert rpm packages to deb and install them in Ubuntu. To install an rpm-package from the console:

sudo alien -i --scripts your_package.rpm

-i means "install" and --scripts "include scripts in package"

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