diff --git a/linuxexternals/find_linux_externals.py b/linuxexternals/find_linux_externals.py
index abdb03a..5ded1b1 100644
--- a/linuxexternals/find_linux_externals.py
+++ b/linuxexternals/find_linux_externals.py
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ def runversion(self, cmd):
         elif cmd.startswith("lib"):
             cmd = f"ls -l /lib/*-gnu/ /usr/lib*/ 2>/dev/null | grep -i '/{cmd}\\.' | perl -pe 's/.*{cmd}.[a-z]*\\.//i;'"
         else:
-            cmd = f"{cmd} --version"
+            cmd = f"{cmd} --version || {cmd} -v"
 
         #print(f"runcmd: cmd: {cmd}")
         #sys.stdout.flush()
diff --git a/linuxexternals/make_rpm_spec.py b/linuxexternals/make_rpm_spec.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b3cfb90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/linuxexternals/make_rpm_spec.py
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+#!/usr/bin/python3
+
+import os
+import os.path
+import re
+import sys
+
+PREFIX=os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__))
+
+PREFACE="""
+Name:           deluxe_build_bundle
+Version:        VERSION
+Release:        1%{?dist}
+Summary:        Every xxx-devel package you might need
+Group:          Development/Languages
+License:        GPLv2+
+URL:            https://github.org/marcmengel/spack-linuxexternals/
+BuildRoot:      %{_tmppath}/%{name}-%{version}-%{release}-root-%(%{__id_u} -n)
+"""
+
+SUFFIX="""
+%description
+Bundle of xxx-devel rpms you might need as Spack externals
+%prep
+
+%build
+
+%install
+
+%clean
+
+%files
+
+%changelog
+* Mon Nov 22 2024 Marc Mengel <mengel@fnal.gov>
+- First draft from fermi-spack-tools list
+"""
+def write_specfile(fname = "deluxe_build_bundle.spec", version="0.2"):
+    with open(fname, "w") as of:
+         of.write(PREFACE.replace("VERSION", version))
+         for rpmname in get_rpmlist():
+             of.write(f"Requires: {rpmname}\n")
+         of.write(SUFFIX)
+
+def get_yum_packages( yum_cmd ):
+    candidates = []
+       
+    with os.popen(yum_cmd,"r") as yf:
+         in_packages = False
+         for line in yf.readlines():
+             if line.find('Installed Packages') >= 0 or line.find('Available Packages') >= 0:
+                in_packages = True
+                continue
+             if in_packages:
+                pkg, rest = line.split('.',1)
+                candidates.append(pkg)
+    # print(f"get_yum_packages: yum_cmd: '{yum_cmd}' candidates: {repr(candidates)}")
+    return candidates
+
+def yum_expand(pat, devbits):
+    yum_wc = pat
+    #print(f"before: {yum_wc}")
+    yum_wc = re.sub("\([^(]*\)\?", "*", yum_wc) 
+    yum_wc = re.sub("\[[^[]*\]\*", "*", yum_wc) 
+    yum_wc = re.sub("\.\*", "*", yum_wc) 
+    yum_wc = re.sub(".\?", "*", yum_wc) 
+    yum_wc = re.sub("[()]", "", yum_wc) 
+    #print(f"after: {yum_wc}")
+    yum_wc_devel = devbits.replace('$0',yum_wc)
+    candidates = get_yum_packages(f"yum list '{yum_wc}' '{yum_wc_devel}'")
+    res = []
+    devpat = devbits.replace('$0',pat)
+    for cand in candidates:
+        if re.match(pat+'$', cand) or re.match(devpat + '$', cand):
+            res.append(cand)
+    return res
+
+def get_rpmlist():
+    packagelistf = f"{PREFIX}/linuxexternals/packagelist"
+    rpmset = set()
+    with open(packagelistf,"r") as pl:
+         for line in pl.readlines():
+             if line.strip()[0] == "#":
+                 continue
+             pat, spackname, devbits = line.strip().split(":")
+             plist = yum_expand(pat, devbits)
+             for p in plist:
+                 rpmset.add(p)
+    rpmlist = list(rpmset)
+    rpmlist.sort()
+    return rpmlist
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+   write_specfile()
diff --git a/linuxexternals/packagelist b/linuxexternals/packagelist
index f859220..3564b2c 100644
--- a/linuxexternals/packagelist
+++ b/linuxexternals/packagelist
@@ -18,12 +18,13 @@ asciidoc:asciidoc:$0
 autoconf:autoconf:$0
 autogen:autogen:$0
 automake:automake:$0
-(xorg-x11-font-utils|bdftopcf):bdftopcf:$0
+xorg-x11-font-utils:bdftopcf:$0
+bdftopcf:bdftopcf:$0
 libdb:berkeley-db:$0-devel
 binutils:binutils:$0
 bison:bison:$0
 cigetcert:cigetcert:$0
-cmake|cmake[0-9]:cmake:$0
+cmake[0-9]*:cmake:$0
 coreutils:coreutils:$0
 libcurl:curl:$0-devel
 (xorg-)?x11-?proto-dev(el)?:damageproto:$0
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@ xorg-x11-(font-)?utils:font-util:$0
 fontconfig:fontconfig:$0-devel
 freetype[0-9]*:freetype:$0-devel
 gawk:gawk:$0
+gcc(-c\+\+|-gfortran)?:gcc:$0
 gdb:gdb:$0
 gdbm:gdbm:$0-devel
 gettext:gettext:$0-devel
@@ -57,7 +59,7 @@ lib[Ss][Mm][0-9]*:libsm:$0-devel
 libtirpc:libtirpc:$0-devel
 libtool:libtool:$0-ltdl-devel
 (lib)?uuid:libuuid:$0-devel
-lib[Xx]11(-[0-9]*):libx11:$0-devel
+lib[Xx]11(-[0-9]*)?:libx11:$0-devel
 lib[Xx]au:libxau:$0-devel
 libxcb:libxcb:$0-devel
 lib[Xx]dmcp:libxdmcp:$0-devel
@@ -79,20 +81,22 @@ m4:m4:$0
 mesa-libGLU:mesa-glu:$0-devel
 mesa-libGL:mesa:$0-devel
 meson:meson:$0
-(xorg-x11-font-utils|mkfontscale):mkfontdir:$0
-(xorg-x11-font-utils|mkfontscale):mkfontscale:$0
-(lib)?motif(-dev):motif:$0
-mpich-[0-9.]+|mpich:mpich:$0-devel
+xorg-x11-font-utils:mkfontdir:$0
+mkfontscale:mkfontdir:$0
+xorg-x11-font-utils:mkfontscale:$0
+mkfontscale:mkfontscale:$0
+(lib)?motif:motif:$0-devel
+mpich(-[0-9.]+)?|mpich:mpich:$0-devel
 nasm:nasm:$0
 ninja-build:ninja:$0
 ncurses:ncurses:$0-devel
 openssh-clients:openssh:$0
-(openssl[0-9a-z]*)-libs:openssl:$0-devel
+openssl[0-9a-z]*(-libs)?:openssl:$0-devel
 patchelf:patchelf:$0
 perl:perl:$0-devel
 (pkgconfig|pkgconf-pkg-config):pkg-config:$0
 pkgconf:pkgconf:$0
-python[0-9]|python[0-9]*-python|python:python:$0-devel
+python[0-9]*(-python)?:python:$0-devel
 readline(-common)?:readline:$0-devel
 tar:tar:$0
 tcl:tcl:$0-devel
@@ -110,4 +114,4 @@ xorg-x11-util-macros:util-macros:$0
 (xorg-)?x11-?proto-dev(el)?:xproto:$0
 lib[Xx]randr[0-9]*:xrandr:$0-devel
 xorg-x11-xtrans-devel:xtrans:$0
-zlib[0-9]*[a-z]?:zlib:$0-devel
+zlib[0-9]*([a-z])?:zlib:$0-devel