Right at the first line, I got sudo: add-apt-repository: command not found
I guess LMDE is not compatible with Launchpad PPA. When such a case occurs (I mean when there is something to install from a PPA source), is there a work around to install using LMDE ?
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Understood, thx for the link. Without the PPA sometime it's get complicate to install things. After I posted the original message. I tried to follow the author suggestion to recompile the Equinox theme engine. I just needed to add libgtk2-dev, but whether I tried by Synaptic package manager or by sudo apt-get, there were a bunch of endless dependencies that l had no courage to hunt to the end. With PPA, in one single "sudo apt-get install equinox-themes" the problem is solved right away.
I can still accept Debian is more complicate, but wasting endless time just by adding one package is not performance. It's troubles.
You can always add some of these to your current LMDE sources.list ... ... Hadret's (PPA) Repros are in there, too.
For themes and whatnot compatible with Debian look here or the Debian Wiki pages.
I've learned from my recent switch that the Ubuntu branches of Linux are better supported and the programs are more up to date. The only downside is you have to wipe your system every 6 months with Linux Mint since they do not provide an upgrade option like Ubuntu. I prefer the look of Mint over Ubuntu, so I guess we can't have everything.
What is the reason an author releases a code using the PPA method? Is it because PPA is superior or because he/she decides to specialize for Ubuntu only?
Actually, I don't really care about PPA. I just want to be able to install without hunting for all the dependencies or building from source. If there is a way to work with Debian then I will do it. But the problem is that some authors said for Debian based distro do this "sudo add-apt-repository ppa:... " which breaks right away with Debian. And what I found bizarre is that there is no alternative to do the Debian way.
t3g wrote:I've learned from my recent switch that the Ubuntu branches of Linux are better supported and the programs are more up to date. The only downside is you have to wipe your system every 6 months with Linux Mint since they do not provide an upgrade option like Ubuntu. I prefer the look of Mint over Ubuntu, so I guess we can't have everything.
The most important bit:
- Mint, as Ubuntu, provides an upgrade option. Its just not visible, and the user as to trigger that option because in both Mint and Ubuntu upgrade is not the recommended way. The false idea Canonical gives that upgrade is just "one-click-option" falls when we see the hundreds of posts in Ubuntu Foruns about upgrade problems.
So, yes, in Mint and Ubuntu a fresh install is the safest way, but you have the other option:
PPA's are released through a site called Launchpad.net
Launchpad is owned by the same company as Ubuntu ... therefore, Launchpad makes PPA specifically for Ubuntu.
No other Linux OS system uses PPAs. Not Debian, Fedora, Slack, Gentoo, or Arch ... although some people have re-configured a PPA or two to work with another OS-system. There are some of the Debian Devs that are also, Ubuntu Devs.
With Ubuntu, when a new version is released, the recommended method to upgrade is to do a 'fresh install'
With Debian the recommended method is not to re-install but to update/upgrade. If you have been keeping up with your regular updates, you already have the new release.
Debian only releases a new version every 2-3 years (when it's ready ... and totally 'bug-free')
Ubuntu releases a new version every 6 months, and an LTS every 18 months - on schedule, regardless if it's ready.
The current version of Debian 6.0 Squeeze is now being released and is more stable and up-to-date than any Linux distribution out there. Imagine releasing a totally 'bug-free' OS ?
Debian is well-known for being rock-solid stable - always. The farther a version of Debian goes after release (if not regularly updated) the more out-of-date most Applications become. You have to keep up and update these yourself. So if you have Debian or LMDE -- keep up with the updates and enjoy a solid, stable OS -- with never a need to re-install.
I'm not sure what is the relation between Debian life cycle and the PPA method to install software. In the past, I also have a lot of misery to install a VoIP phone named Linphone. I have never been able to compile it from source. There was always something missing or broken. As soon as a gentleman supplied a PPA, not only I could install it easy. In addition I can even update it to the latest version. Now that Linphone is available in deb package so I won't miss too much of the PPA.
I don't know what is the political implication but from an end user perspective, I find that PPA makes the job really easy for me. Deb package is great to. But somehow, some authors only supplies the PPA method.
Eucalyptus wrote:I'm not sure what is the relation between Debian life cycle and the PPA method to install software. In the past, I also have a lot of misery to install a VoIP phone named Linphone. I have never been able to compile it from source. There was always something missing or broken. As soon as a gentleman supplied a PPA, not only I could install it easy. In addition I can even update it to the latest version. Now that Linphone is available in deb package so I won't miss too much of the PPA.
I don't know what is the political implication but from an end user perspective, I find that PPA makes the job really easy for me. Deb package is great to. But somehow, some authors only supplies the PPA method.
The controversy comes from the dangers of adding a PPA with conflicting dependencies and such. All Linux distros are different so if you add a repository that was created with only a few distros in mind and your distro isn't one of them, some program running on your system somewhere could fail.
Instead of:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tiheum/equinox
you should use:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:tiheum/equinox.
In general. I am afraid though it will not be enough as there are only Ubuntu packages ready there.
... Hadret's (PPA) Repros are in there, too.