Can I install packages from the Angstrom repo manually?

Hi,

I have a mini2440 (1GB NAND, stock linux w/ Qt, X35 display).

I was wondering if I could download packages from the Angstrom repo, and
install them manually on my board, without installing Angstrom itself.

Of course, I am only talking about console packages (like curl, openSSH,
etc.). 

So if I download the correct package and its dependencies for my
architecture (ARM v4T ?), extract the package with dpkg-deb -x, and install
the binaries/files in the correct places on the board, will it work?

I am trying to avoid cross compiling here. I am not very good at it,
especially for tools which have multiple dependencies.

Thanks.

Yes! I've just tried it with 'file' utility and dependencies from
(http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/repo/?pkgname=file) (architecture
'armv4t'), extracted on my computer, copied to FARM via FTP. After fixing
permissions and creating symlinks (eg. 'ln -s /lib/libmagic.so.1.0.0
/lib/libmagic.so.1'), which could not be copied by my FTP client, it
started working. This process might be simplified by extracting just
data.tar.gz from the .ipk and extracting it right on the device.('cd /; tar
-xf /path/to/copied/data.tar.gz')  (just an idea, not tested yet)
btw. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I have been thinking
about using OpenWRT's repository, but I couldn't find matching
architecture... Angstrom is the best!

Yeah, it worked for me to.

The steps are as follows:

1. Download the package you are interested in and also all its
dependencies. You have to download for the ARMv4T architecture.

2. Use dpkg to extract them: dpkg-deb -x <path to ipk> <output path>
 
3. Rename all libs correctly (remove sub version numbers), or create the
symlinks manually.

I tried installing transmission and it worked!