rpm -q -- What does it do?

One of the nice things about using RPM is that the packages you manage don't end up going into some kind of black hole. Nothing would be worse than to install, upgrade, and erase several different packages and not have a clue as to what's on your system. In fact, RPM's query function can help you get out of sticky situations like:

• You're poking around your system, and you come across a file that you just can't identify. Where did it come from?

• Your friend sends you a package file, and you have no idea what the package does, what it installs, or where it originally came from.

• You know that you installed XFree86 a couple months ago, but you don't know what version, and you can't find any documentation on it.

The list could go on, but you get the idea. The rpm -q command is what you need. If you're the kind of person that doesn't like to have more options than you know what to do with, rpm -q might look imposing. But fear not. Once you have a handle on the basic structure of an RPM query, it'll be a piece of cake.