# Brother printer, Linux drivers, rpm vs deb, typo maybe

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-printer-linux-drivers-rpm-vs-deb-typo-maybe/1012665>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 7, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-printer-linux-drivers-rpm-vs-deb-typo-maybe/1012665 "2025-01-07T01:38:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![zuer-coli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ba9def/32.png) [@zuer-coli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuer-coli)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-printer-linux-drivers-rpm-vs-deb-typo-maybe/1012665/1 "2025-01-07T01:38:36Z")

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Hello all, Please Note, this question may or may not have a factual answer.

I’m looking into a new printer, I’m interested in this Brother printer: MFC-J1205W

I don’t understand what’s going on with this page from Brother USA:

[https://support.brother.com/g/b/downloadhowto.aspx?c=us&lang=en&prod=mfcj1205w\_us&os=128&dlid=dlf105211\_000&flang=4&type3=10556](https://support.brother.com/g/b/downloadhowto.aspx?c=us&lang=en&prod=mfcj1205w_us&os=128&dlid=dlf105211_000&flang=4&type3=10556)

This page talks about downloading the Scanner Setting file (deb package). However later in the directions the user is instructed to run this command: **Command (for rpm) : dpkg -i (filename)**

**Perhaps rpm is a typo, perhaps it works just the same, however I find it confusing. Any thoughts would be welcome.**

**Thank you and respectfully yours, Zuer-coli**

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**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-printer-linux-drivers-rpm-vs-deb-typo-maybe/1012665/2 "2025-01-07T01:40:43Z")

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sudo dpkg -i is what you run to install a deb package in Ubuntu derived systems.

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**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-printer-linux-drivers-rpm-vs-deb-typo-maybe/1012665/3 "2025-01-13T20:29:19Z")

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And the mention of rpm is probably a typo. Maybe a copy/paste kind of error if there are corresponding instructions for RPM-based Linux installations (i.e., Red Hat and affiliates).

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**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brother-printer-linux-drivers-rpm-vs-deb-typo-maybe/1012665/4 "2025-01-13T20:42:21Z")

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> [@zuer-coli](#):
>
> **Command (for rpm) : dpkg -i (filename)**

Probably a typo, or more accurately copy-pasting without making all of the necessary changes.

However, I’d suggest using `apt install ./brother-udev-rule-type1-1.0.2-0.all.deb` instead of `dpkg -i`. Using apt will bring in any dependencies needed by the driver, and also complain about any conflicts with existing packages.

The `./` tells apt should install from a file, instead of downloading the package from a repository. You can do `./Downloads/brother-udev-rule-type1-1.0.2-0.all.deb` or whatever to point to where the file actually is.

In this particular instance the package is probably just a text file that goes in `udev.d`, so using apt instead of dpkg will not matter, but using `apt install ./` is a good habit to be in for installing packages saved as local files.