Mageia forum

Can outside .rpms be installed in Mageia? I understand Mageia is .rpm based, but I also understand that its an independent distro and may not be compatible with Red Hat or other rpm based distros. So I am currious if .rpm packages from outside the repos will work work. For example, I recently set up a computer for a friend that needed a Citrix reciever software so she could control her work PC from a remote location. At the time I was using a debian based distro, so I simply installed the provided .deb file. But they also had rpm files that were built for Red Hat. So I am wonder how close the compatibility is between Mageia and RedHat or other rpm based distros.

Yes, if the package is done properly, it's compatible among rpm distros. Some examples would be teamviewer, or skype.
Just tried installation of Receiver on a 64bit system, works just fine. Downloaded from http://www.citrix.de/downloads/citrix-r ... x-121.html

Please next time ask such questions in Basic support subforum - General discussions about Mageia is for general discussions about the project, not suited for support-type threads or questions. Thanks.

Thanks, thats good to know.

Sorry if its in the wrong subforum. My question was meant to be more generic about installing outside rpms. Citrix Reciever was just an example of a proprietary rpm. Although I am thankful that you tested it. Now I know it will work if I switch myself and my friend over to Mageia. Others would be Skype as you mentioned and Crossover and I'm sure others. It seems every one I setup with Linux has a different need for some proprietary software. So I wanted to see if Mageia was binaray compatible with RedHat or other rpm distros. Or is binary compatible another issue. Although I've used Linux for a few years, I am just a user and don't know all the terms and things.

I think that if an "outside RPM" is installed you will also have to manually keep up to date any updates for security patches, etc...., -but others may know for sure

Well, depends. In general that is true.

For some packages (which are really rare, admittedly) the vendors offer custom repos also for Mageia,
Google is such a case, so you'll get regular updates directly from Google for Chrome, Googletalk plugin and such ...