I would like to know how to install .deb packages without using a package manager such as dpkg. Is it possible to do this? What files do I have to edit? Or is there a unique procedure for each package?
You can unpack a .deb package using
ar x your_package.deb
Every .deb package contains the two files control.tar.gz and data.tar.gz.
data.tar.gz contains all the program's files.
control.tar.gz contains the metadata and some scripts: preinst is run by dpkg before unpacking data.tar.gz, postinst after unpacking. When removing a packge prerm is run before the program files are removed and postrm after that.
Quite likely this scripts don't work on a Non-Debian system but they may contain code you need to run to make the program work.
Why do you want to do this?
