ThirdPartyPackages
Launchpad Entry: https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/third-party-packages
Created: Date(2005-10-27T18:24:04Z) by JaneWeideman
Contributors: JaneWeideman
Packages affected:
Summary
Some software cannot be incorporated into Ubuntu's comprehensive package repositories. We should explore options for providing Ubuntu users with convenient access to such software.
A convenient way to install deb files directly in a save way is probably a good start here. The user should be able to see what the debs contains (description, files) and the dependencies needs to be analyzed and it must be checked if they can be installed.
Rationale
Use cases
Scope
Design
Implementation
To install debs in a save way there are two options. One is to add support for it to libapt itself. There is a baz branch for this in "apt--local-install--0". The current patch is rather intrusive and the apt maintainer does not particularly like it. The other alternative is to provide a application (that can be part of the apt package) that will analyze the deb and it's dependencies. If they can be satisfied it will be installed, otherwise it won't.
Code
Some prototype work is beeing done to install deb files directly in the bzr archive at http://people.ubuntu.com/~mvo/bzr/gdebi--main
There are also test-packages available at:
deb http://people.ubuntu.com/~mvo/gdebi/ /
Data preservation and migration
Outstanding issues