Linux Notes: RPM-distros vs DEB-distros

  1. The information presented here is intended for educational use by qualified computer technologists.
  2. The information presented here is provided free of charge, as-is, with no warranty of any kind.
Edit: 2025-08-02
back to: my Linux Notes (index)

Overview

Linux distros come in two major flavors, as well as some smaller flavors. Here is a short list.

package manager package extension name notes
apt deb Debian includes: Debian, Ubuntu, LinuxMint, etc.
yum / dnf rpm Redhat Package Manager includes: RHEL, CentOS, Fedora, AlmaLinux, etc.
pacman
Arch Linux
portage
Gentoo
installpkg
removepkg
upgradepkg
Slackware
xbps
Void Linux
zypper rpm openSUSE

CLI Commands: RPM vs DEB

Updating Software

rpm deb
sudo yum clean all
sudo yum makecache
sudo apt update
sudo yum check-update sudo apt list --upgradable
sudo yum update sudo apt upgrade
sudo yum list \*nvidia\* sudo apt list *nvidia*
Notes:
  1. yum (RHEL-7, CentOS-7) was replaced with dnf (RHEL-7, CentOS-8, AlamaLinux-8 and higher)
  2. In order to not break installation scripts on CentOS-8 and higher, typing yum will invoke dnf 

Special Software Installs

Installing a C/C++ compiler

rpm deb notes
sudo yum install gcc sudo apt install gcc while this might work, some stuff will be missing
sudo yum -y groupinstall "Development Tools" sudo apt install build-essential this will also install gcc as well as make, g++, and dpkg-dev
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Neil Rieck
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.