Ubuntu Wiki

Including apt-offline on LiveCD

Detailed specification

Users in bandwidth-challenged scenarios are presented with a chicken-and-egg problem in terms of updating repositories. Nothing in the basic minimum package list let alone included within xubuntu-desktop provides a way to execute the equivalent of "apt-get update" on a separate machine. The upstream apt-offline package, which also has the associated apt-offline-gui Qt-based wrapper, allows for not just repository scans separate from a machine but also package download and load.

Inclusion of this relatively small tool on the LiveCD in addition to being something installed connected with xubuntu-desktop would avoid chicken-and-egg problems by allowing from the outset the ability to update machines regardless of connectivity status. This would broaden access to Xubuntu in a way that would bridge digital divides through allowing community cooperation in updating machines. This also serves the purpose of improving end-user security by removing a lack of Internet connection from being an excuse for not patching one's system.