SDB:Feedback: How to Determine a Program's Package Name and Version

Situation

You want to find out in which rpm package a certain application is located. This information makes it easier for us to handle your queries via e-mail.

When Starting the Application from a Menu

The exact name of the application is generally enough for our purposes. The version number can be found in most applications on the right side of the upper menu bar:

Help -> About "PROGRAM_NAME"

With KDE's menu editor, see what application is actually started when you click a menu entry:

Menu -> System -> Menu Editor

A description of how to get information about the respective rpm package follows.

When Starting the Application from The Command Line

All the information about installed programs is saved in the rpm package database. With the query option, you can retrieve the information you need from it. For example:

rpm -q tuxracer

produces

tuxracer-0.61-215

This shows tuxracer version 0.61-215 is installed.

However, you need to know the name of the package (in our example tuxracer). An rpm package often contains many programs. Obviously, the package name differs from the programs' names. With "query file" you can search for a certain file:

rpm -qf /bin/date

displays

sh-utils-2.0-120

If you know the name of a program (e.g., date) but not its complete path, use something like rpm -qf $(which date) . It displays

sh-utils-2.0-120

The command "which date" delivers the complete path -- "/bin/date". The output of the previous command is appended to the rpm command through $(...). <keyword>information,rpm,feedback,package</keyword>