- Do not overwrite system files
Software Collections are distributed as a set of several components, which provide their full functionality without overwriting system files.
- Are designed to avoid conflicts with system files
Software Collections make use of a special file system hierarchy to avoid possible conflicts between a single Software Collection and the base system installation.
- Require no changes to the RPM package manager
Software Collections require no changes to the RPM package manager present on the host system.
- Need only minor changes to the spec file
To convert a conventional package to a single Software Collection, you only need to make minor changes to the package spec file.
- Allow you to build a conventional package and a Software Collection package with a single spec file
With a single spec file, you can build both the conventional package and the Software Collection package.
- Allow you to use a spec file from one Software Collection to build a different Software Collection
You can use a single spec file from one Software Collection to build a different Software Collection.
- Uniquely name all included packages
With Software Collection's namespace, all packages included in the Software Collection are uniquely named.
- Do not conflict with updated packages
Software Collection's namespace ensures that updating packages on your system causes no conflicts.
- Can depend on other Software Collections
Because one Software Collection can depend on another, you can define multiple levels of dependencies.