convert debian deb file to tar.gz

['chris']

hi

I have Debian Squeeze installed and I'm looking for a tool to convert debian deb file to tar.gz.
I'd like to install it on other linux distributions.

[Steven E. Protter · Accepted solution]

Shalom,

No you can not do that. The software in a .deb file is platform specific. Search the web for an equivalent .tar.gz version.

The exception is some home made .deb files can include a tar file, which may or may not work if untarred on another distribution.

SEP

[dirk dierickx]

that is not true, there is nothing platform specific about a .deb file.
well, there are packages for x86, x86-64, ppc, etc.
a .dev package is nothing more then an ar file with extra bit of info and scripts added to it. so it can be converted to any other format, like rpm or even tar.gz. although, in that case you lose your included scripts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deb_%28file_format%29

there is a program in the debian repositories called 'alien' which can convert any package to another. take care though, not everything will work just because you now have an installable package (think dependencies, different versions of libs etc).

[Lucifer Megacruel]

Hi chirs,

Did you take a look alien ? I helps to convert between different package formats :). But the conversion is not always fully guarenteed :).

One way is to copy the binary and do an ldd and see if dependecies are installed.

ldd

Truly Evil
Lucifer Megacruel

[Lucifer Megacruel]

Hi Chris,

Find the link for alien. What steve said is not really true :

See :http://kitenet.net/~joey/code/alien/

Alien has its limitations though.

Truly Evil
Lucifer Megacruel

['chris']

Thx, using alien works well:

# alien -t -c file.deb
# file.tgz generated