From: Jeff Johnson <jbj@redhat.com>
Reply-To: rpm-list@redhat.com
To: rpm-list@redhat.com
Subject: [rh-rpm] Re: rpmbuild and rpm -ba

On Thu, Jun 20, 2002 at 10:03:44AM -0700, Koegler, Eric E wrote:
> What is the difference between "rpm -b" and "rpmbuild"?
> Should I switch from the former to the latter? Why?

Yes, rpmbuild should be used, as the build modes moved out of the /bin/rpm executable 2 years ago.

Quoting from the current rpm.8 man page:

... LEGACY ISSUES Executing rpmbuild The build modes of rpm are now resident in the /usr/bin/rpmbuild executable. Although legacy compatibil­ ity provided by the popt aliases below has been adequate, the compatibility is not perfect; hence build mode compat­ ibility through popt aliases is being removed from rpm. Install the rpmbuild package, and see rpmbuild(8) for doc­ umentation of all the rpm build modes previously docu­ mented here in rpm(8). Add the following lines to /etc/popt if you wish to con­ tinue invoking rpmbuild from the rpm command line: rpm exec --bp rpmb -bp rpm exec --bc rpmb -bc rpm exec --bi rpmb -bi rpm exec --bl rpmb -bl rpm exec --ba rpmb -ba rpm exec --bb rpmb -bb rpm exec --bs rpmb -bs rpm exec --tp rpmb -tp rpm exec --tc rpmb -tc rpm exec --ti rpmb -ti rpm exec --tl rpmb -tl rpm exec --ta rpmb -ta rpm exec --tb rpmb -tb rpm exec --ts rpmb -ts rpm exec --rebuild rpmb --rebuild rpm exec --recompile rpmb --recompile rpm exec --clean rpmb --clean rpm exec --rmsource rpmb --rmsource rpm exec --rmspec rpmb --rmspec rpm exec --target rpmb --target rpm exec --short-circuit rpmb --short-circuit ...
> Exactly how do the results differ? (Or where are these differences
> documented? Or how do I determine these differences without extensive
> testing or searching through code?)

You've been executing /usr/bin/rpmbuild for two years and *now* you want to test the results? Too late ...

73 de Jeff