Orkar inte riktigt översätta
.rpm
RPM Package Manager (originally Red Hat Package Manager, abbreviated RPM) is a package management system.[1] The name RPM refers to two things: a software package file format, and software packaged in this format. RPM was intended primarily for Linux distributions; the file format RPM is the baseline package format of the Linux Standard Base.
.deb
deb is the extension of the Debian software package format and the most often used name for such binary packages. Like the "Deb" part of the term Debian, it originates from the name of Debra, wife of Debian's founder Ian Murdock.
Skillnaden
The packaging policies have nothing to do with it. The mechanism to create a DEB package is more powerful, understandable, and flexible than the mechanism to create an RPM package.
DEB uses a Makefile to control the package build process. DEB packages use a separate subdirectory to contain packaging-related files where each file has a specific purpose. DEB provides shell scripts (debhelper) that you can use in your Makefile rules.
RPM uses a custom packaging tool (rpmbuild) to control the package build process. RPM combines all packaging information into a single specfile. RPM provides macros which are expanded into Makefile rules.
Makefiles combined with shell scripts are much more powerful and flexible than macros. AFAIK, the macros in RPM can only used for lexical transformation and substitution. Shell scripts are like functions and can take arguments on the command line, produce debugging output, call other shell scripts, etc.
deb över rpm alla dagar är min personliga åsikt som jag nog inte är ensam om.