While RPM certainly makes packaging software as easy as possible, it doesn't end there. RPM gives you the tools you need to build a package on different types of computers. More importantly, RPM makes it possible to build packages on different types of computers using a single spec file. Those of you that have developed software for different computers know the importance of maintaining a single set of sources. RPM lets you continue that practice through the package building phase.
Before we get into RPM's capabilities, let's do a quick review of what is involved in developing software for different types of computer systems.