rpm2cpio ./packagecloud-test-1.1-1.x86_64.rpm | cpio -idmv
An RPM package is simply a header structure on top of a CPIO archive. The package itself is comprised of four sections: a header with a leading identifier (magic number) that identifies the file as an RPM package, a signature to verify the integrity of the package, the header or ‘tagged’ data containing package information, version numbers, and copyright messaging, and the archive containing the actual program files.
In the example above, we use cpio with the -i flag to extract the files from the archive, -d to create the leading directories where needed, and -m to preserve the file modification times when creating files. The -v flag (verbose) is to list the files processed for the sake of this example.
CheckInstall will create a Slackware, RPM or Debian compatible package and install it with Slackware's installpkg, "rpm -i" or Debian's "dpkg -i" as appropriate, so you can view it's contents with pkgtool ("rpm -ql" for RPM users or "dpkg -l" for Debian)
rpm.livna.org provides many useful packages that can not be distributed in Fedora (previously known as Fedora Core and Extras) for one reason or another, including multimedia applications such as xine and VideoLanClient, and video drivers for ATI and Nvid
N. Repčić, I. Šarić, and V. Avdić. Proceedings of the 15th International Research/Expert Conference „Trends in the Development of Machinery and Associated Technology” TMT 2011
, page 973--76. Prague, Czech Republic, (2011)