RPM

Sometimes there are just too many dependencies for an RPM and all you want is a few of its files. You can compile of course, but if like me you wanted 6 or so files from a 100 file rpm and don't want to fiddle with dependencies then you can do the following:

rpm2cpio rpmfile.rpm | cpio -vid

Replacing rpmfile.rpm as appropriate. This will churn all the files in the rpm out into the current directory.

How to Get SuSE's Custom Window Decoration

I did this because I had just used apt4rpm to upgrade my SuSE distrobution from 8.0 to 8.1 and I found that I was lacking the SuSE 8.1 custom KWin decoration. Using apt-cache search kwin I soon discovered the package I required was kdebase3-SuSE which was responsible for the complete SuSE-iness of KDE in SuSE distrobutions. But apt complained it couldn't install it due to not knowing where MPlayer was. So I thought why do I want MPlayer installed anyway!? Using cpio I was able to obtain the 6 *kwin* files that made the window decoration and install them in the right places. Work but, well worth it :)

Incidently isn't it great how SuSE segregates its packages so thoroughly? The apt4rpm project favors SuSE, and they say they do this because SuSE's rpms are "good quality rpm packages" without which it would not be "possible to use APT at all." Good 'ol SuSE.