Package Management
Slackware's package management system can install, upgrade, and remove packages from local sources and over a network.
As of Slackware 12.2, slackpkg has been added as the official network-capable package manager, complementing the traditional package tools suite that only operates locally.
Slackware packages are tarballs. Prior to version 13.0, the compression method was DEFLATE (gzip) with filenames ending in .tgz. Beginning with version 13.0, the compression method for packages is based on the LZMA algorithm, indicated by the .txz extension. Since the change in compression methods, the package filename extensions comprise .tgz,.txz,.tbz and .tlz.
The package contains the files that form part of the software being installed, as well as additional metadata files for the benefit of the Slackware package manager. The files containing the very software are organized in a hierarchical way that reflects their respective locations in the root directory of the destination system.
The metadata files are placed under the install/ directory of the package. Two files are commonly found there: slack-desc and doinst.sh. The slack-desc file is a simple text file which contains a description of the package being installed. It is used when viewing packages with the package manager. The doinst.sh file is a shell script which is run at the end of the installation of a package and usually executes commands or makes changes which could not be best made by changing the contents of the package.
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