[BusyBox] issue with installing, then removing a package with "dpkg"

[Robert P. J. Day]

  while i can install a .deb file created on my server with BB's "dpkg" 
command, i can't seem to uninstall it with that same command.

  as background, i want to install my first .deb package file on a
PPC-based system that has *no* dpkg infrastructure on it at all, so it's
not surprising that the first attempt fails, and forces me to at least
create the dpkg administrative directories and files that will be used for
subsequent .deb files.  here's what happens:

  # dpkg -i tds_1_ppc-Linux.deb
  dpkg: /var/lib/dpkg/status: No such file or directory

ok, so i need a /var/lib/dpkg directory and status file, neither of which 
exist yet, so i'll just cram them in manually:

  # mkdir /var/lib/dpkg
  # touch /var/lib/dpkg/status

now, try again:

  # dpkg -i tds_1_ppc-Linux.deb
  Unpacking tds (from tds_1_ppc-Linux.deb) ...     # ok, getting there 

  ... time passes, suggesting things are being installed ...

  dpkg: /var/lib/dpkg/info/tds.list: No such file or directory

this suggests that i should have had an "info" directory, inside of which 
"dpkg" would be keeping track of installed packages, which makes sense.
but a quick look shows that the files *have* been installed in the 
appropriate locations.  this is really kind of disturbing since you'd 
think that dpkg would first check for essential files before starting to
dump stuff all over the filesystem.  as it is, then, i've installed the 
contents of the .deb file, but have no official record of it.  ouch.

  just for fun, i'll create the info directory, and try again:

  # mkdir /var/lib/dpkg/info
  # dpkg -i tds_1_ppc-Linux.deb
  Unpacking tds (from tds_1_ppc-Linux.deb) ...
  Setting up tds (1) ...
  #

hmmm ... that seemed to work and, sure enough, i now have the file
/var/lib/dpkg/info/tds.list, which contains the fully-qualified list
of filenames that were installed.

  ok, so what if i try to list the installed packages:

  # dpkg -l
      Name           Version
  +++-==============-==============
  #

hmmm ... nothing installed?  that would explain why i can't remove that
package with either of:

  # dpkg -P
  # dpkg -r

in a nutshell, then, the issues are:

1) if there is *no* dpkg infrastructure on the system yet, should the 
   first dpkg install create it?  or must that be done manually?  i'm 
   fine with either approach, as long as i know which approach should
   be used.

2) should dpkg happily install the contents of a .deb file, only to 
   realize afterwards that it can't record that installation since
   there's no /var/lib/dpkg/info directory?

3) why, if there's clearly a "tds.list" file in my case, with the 
   correct list of associated files, should "dpkg -l" tell me there
   are no installed packages?

4) why do the usage message, online docs and actual dpkg.c source code
   differ in terms of options?

   usage message and online docs:  iCPru
   dpkg.c itself:                  CFilPru

   very confusing.

rday