Managing Software with RPM
Years ago, installing software on your Linux box meant untarring a file in your root system directory (/). Keeping track of what was where and trying to uninstall it was a mess, not to mention even knowing what version of the software you had.
I once removed an old library because I thought it wasn't in use anymore and I needed the disk space. After I deleted the file, half the commands on my system stopped working! Turns out there were dependencies on that library that I didn't know about.
Linux has grown to be much more sophisticated. Now it has package management tools that help you maintain a database of installed software and their files, which allows you to perform powerful queries and verification of your system. ...
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