A couple basic binary RPM questions

[Greg_Swift at aotx.uscourts.gov]

> I’m new to rpm’s and spent most of yesterday at work coming up with
> a simple binary rpm file.  My prep section unpacks the tar file.
> Which contains 2 binary executables, a config file, and a shared
> object.  The build section does nothing.  My install section creates
> a directory in the opt/ folder and copies over the 4 files.
>
> My question is: I’ve noticed that in almost every example I see on
> the net for binary rpms, people are calling ./configure ./make and
> ./make install.  Doesn’t that seem overly complicated?  Why not just
> a couple copy commands?  All we are trying to do with a binary rpm
> is place some executable files in the person’s file system, right?

From what you've said you seem to be placing pre-compiled binaries, at
which point your method is fine.  However, if you have access to the
source, building it in the RPM is considered ideal and is where the
configure && make && make install steps originate from.

-greg