function _getAlias($channel)
    {
        if (!$this->_channelExists($channel)) {
            if ($channel == 'pear.php.net') {
                return 'pear';
            }

            if ($channel == 'pecl.php.net') {
                return 'pecl';
            }

            if ($channel == 'doc.php.net') {
                return 'phpdocs';
            }

            return false;
        }

        $channel = $this->_getChannel($channel);
        if (PEAR::isError($channel)) {
            return $channel;
        }

        return $channel->getAlias();
    }