Package

A package typically is a bundle of files that together allow you to perform a task.

Most importantly, rpm and deb packages allow you to install software, including its libraries, documentation and config files.

rpm packages

Let's have a look at a small rpm package file, distcc-server-3.1-1.i386.rpm

# rpm -qpl distcc-server-3.1-1.i386.rpm
/etc/default
/etc/default/distcc
/etc/distcc
/etc/distcc/clients.allow
/etc/distcc/commands.allow.sh
/etc/init.d/distcc
/etc/logrotate.d
/etc/logrotate.d/distcc
/etc/xinetd.d
/etc/xinetd.d/distcc
/usr/bin/distccd
/usr/share/man/man1/distccd.1.gz