using packages from other linux

[alu]

i was testing the last puppy (lupu501), and the puppy team has developped what i find a nice tool importing and installing ubuntu packages with deps in puppy linux (same with slackware packages).

would it be of concern for TC/MC? it has the inconvenient that the kernel has to be in line with the ubuntu's one, but the result is really interesting for the end user, since you have plenty of packages at hand for TC/MC letting the core team concentrate on core development, and maybe make TC/MC more attractive for average users. Anyway, just a thought. 

[u54749]

My experience is that most Debian/Ubuntu binaries run very well in tinycore, on condition that:

-  there are no kernel dependencies, so you shouldn't run Debian device drivers, or stuff like OSS (Open Sound System)
-  it's not written specifically for Debian/Ubuntu, or assumes certain desktop environments or window managers
-  that you satisfy all the depencencies

I'm posting this from Google Chrome (official Debian binaries) with embedded Flash, it's stable as a rock.  Got also Openoffice 3.1 binaries from Debian running without problems (yes I know that there is an official tcz now but it was well before the extension existed). 

But as they say your mileage can vary

[Juanito]

I think that the fact that tinycore extensions are compiled on tinycore for tinycore is a significant plus point.

Importing packages from other distros is likely to cause a number of problems - you mention that of the kernel version, but there could also be issues with using packages compiled against different versions of the base libs, particularly glibc.

I also believe we are at the point where the majority of extensions are submitted by the user base, leaving the core team to concentrate on the core.

Of course this isn't to say you can't do whatever you want locally, but I would not recommend using packages from other distros for general consumption.