Linux Mint 15 repository?

[got_mint!]

I do absolutely know that mint 15 is no longer supported.
I really should have been pro-active and done the work of creating my own local repository copy on hard drive before version 15 support ended.
Live and learn!!
Is there no possible way to obtain a copy of the mint 15 repository at this point in time?
If OSDisc.com had it for sale, I wouldn't hesitate to spend the money and buy it, but it looks like all they have is version 17 now.
WHY NOT JUST DUMP VERSION 15 AND INSTALL 17?
Because of all of the time investment I put into getting wine installed in version 15, along with a half dozen programs that I run on wine.
Do I really want to spend a week setting up mint all over again?

[Reorx]

Are you looking for something specific or do you just want the availability of the repository?

If you just want the availability - good luck with that! A large chunk of the stuff you are looking for would have been under the control of Ubuntu/Canonical...

If you are looking for something specific, you might try contacting the developer - they might have an archive that includes old versions in various formats (including .deb packages)...

Good luck.

[jimallyn]

There is one possibility to get the packages you want:

http://snapshot.debian.org/

The problem will be finding exactly which version you need from among the many available.

[karlchen]

Hello, got_mint.

Here is a workaround posted for Mint 14, (adjusting the sources list files). You will have to adjust the workaround for Mint 15: nadia => olivia, quantal => raring.
This way you may be able to access the (relocated) official repositories still.
Do not expect all the PPAs to be available, in case you used any PPAs.

A week for setting up Mint including Wine plus Windows applications sounds a bit long, except if what you mean is that you will spend 2 hours per day on it and do so for seven days. Anyway, I am only judging from the time I need to setup everything from scratch, including all the little things not mentioned in any "10 to 25 more or less useful things you really should do after installing Linux Mint xx" tutorials.

Kind regards,
Karl

[got_mint!]

Thank you everyone for your great posts!!
I've downloaded a couple of source packages that I wanted (./configure, make, make install) successfully.
So I think I"ll keep 15 as it is on its hard drive and look at setting up a LTS mint on a different drive.
I wonder if there is a way for me to migrate over my set of applications, including the wine installation into version 17?
Then perhaps I can use APT-Mirror and create a local mirror repository.
Or perhaps Mint 13 which has a support date set for April 2017.

Thanks again everyone for your suggestions!
U R AWESOME!

[Spearmint2]

some of the mirror sites for that release may still have repositories,but some may have moved them into archive folders, so would have to search the repositories in a browser to find them. You can search out archives at Ubuntu.

http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/

http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_olivia.php

http://www.linuxmint.com/release.php?id=20

http://mirror.jmu.edu/pub/linuxmint/packages/pool/

[got_mint!]

Wow!!
Thanks for those links!!
I drilled into one of the mirrors and found what appears to be the repositories.

http://linuxmint.mirrorcatalogs.com/pac ... ts/olivia/

I think I can add this to my sources.list file.
This will be my first attempt at figuring out how to add a repository by examining the mirror server's folder structure.

[Spearmint2]

You MUST upgrade to 17.

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=179002

[nomko]

some of the mirror sites for that release may still have repositories,but some may have moved them into archive folders, so would have to search the repositories in a browser to find them. You can search out archives at Ubuntu.

You MUST upgrade to 17.

First you advise the OP to use archived repositories and in your last post you almost force him to upgrade??????
Really, really strange advise and/or help.....

Best was to point out to got_mint! that he/she should upgrade to Mint 17 or downgrade to Mint 13 (depending on system hardware specifications) instead of going from the left to the right...

[nomko]

I do absolutely know that mint 15 is no longer supported.
I really should have been pro-active and done the work of creating my own local repository copy on hard drive before version 15 support ended.
Live and learn!!

If i'm reading it correctly, you wished you backed up your Mint 15 PPA's? IMHO there's no benefit in backing up PPA's meant for older/obsolete Mint versions. Basically the reason for this is that when a distro developes to a newer release, so does most of the third-party software. In some cases even third-party software developers drop their support and development for their appliocation(s) for older/obsolete Linux versions.

Is there no possible way to obtain a copy of the mint 15 repository at this point in time?

Never use repositories of old/obsolete Mint versions for newer Mint versions since this will create problems with your Update Manager! When a Mint version is obsolete, the repository of that version will be closed. So adding a repository meant for and obsolete Mint version in the latest version will only produce error messages when trying to upate the latest Mint version since it can't find the repository of those old/obsolete repository meant for Mint 15. Beside that, most, if not all, packages and libraries have been evolved and issues with a higher version number. Adding packages/libraries of an old/obsolete repository could cause file version conflicts, overwritting of the latest package/library. Something you really don't want!

So stop wishing and thinking you can use the repository of Mint 15 in the latest Mint version!

If OSDisc.com had it for sale, I wouldn't hesitate to spend the money and buy it, but it looks like all they have is version 17 now.

Why spending money when you can get here for free:
http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

WHY NOT JUST DUMP VERSION 15 AND INSTALL 17?

For the reason that Mint 15 is obsolete and therefore no longer supported and maintained. And it is also not recommended to encourage users with an old/obsolete Mint version keep using that obsolete version.

Because of all of the time investment I put into getting wine installed in version 15, along with a half dozen programs that I run on wine.
Do I really want to spend a week setting up mint all over again?

Well, you could edit the reposity list of your Mint 15 install and change all the lines manually. In each line were you read raring you could change it into trusty and run sudo apt-get dist-upgrade command which brings your old Mint 15 version up to Mint 17. This way you save a lot of time but this way is also prone for system breakage! A clean/fresh/new/virgin install is very much recommended to avoid any trouble.

[Spearmint2]

First you advise the OP to use archived repositories and in your last post you almost force him to upgrade??????
Really, really strange advise and/or help.....

I was not aware of the BASH shellshock situation at the time. What's OK one day may be wrong the next in the world of computers.

[got_mint!]

To answer some of the questions:

I've installed a ton of different Linux distro(s) just to try them out.
I typically have around 3 or 4 different Linux OS(s) that I can plug-in-play.
When there is one special distro that I especially like, it becomes my main Linux OS, and I have it configured just exactly the way I like it.

I'm really not interested in deleting it and starting all over again 6 months later.
I know I'm different from a lot of Linux users who really enjoy playing with the latest thing-out and are cool with deleting and starting over with a new OS.
And I think Linux really is awesome for providing that enjoyment.

For me, even a 3 year life-span is not long enough, when I have an OS that I really want to keep for a longer period of time.
I can pop-in Windows-XP, which I setup in 2001, and still obtain applications for it, 13 years later.....just not for free :-]
I can pop-in Windows-7, which I setup in 2009, and still obtain applications for it 5 years later.....just not for free.

So as you can see, my preference is to establish an OS that I can use and install applications in, for much longer than the LTS time-period.
So my best LINUX option seems to be, to obtain a full LOCAL repository.
Then, I can use that Linux OS as many years as I want too, and add new applications from the local repository any time I want to.
Using both the online and the local, I have access to all of the latest updates until the OS reaches EOF.

LINUX is just totally awesome!!

[MartyMint]

So my best LINUX option seems to be, to obtain a full LOCAL repository.
Then, I can use that Linux OS as many years as I want too, and add new applications from the local repository any time I want to.

I'm not sure that means what you think it means...


Having said that, you may be most satisfied with a rolling release distro.
If Linux Mint has been satisfactory for you, Linux Mint Debian Edition would suite you best.

[nomko]

So my best LINUX option seems to be, to obtain a full LOCAL repository.
Then, I can use that Linux OS as many years as I want too, and add new applications from the local repository any time I want to.
Using both the online and the local, I have access to all of the latest updates until the OS reaches EOF.

Not if you keep using an outdated/obsolete Mint version. When a Mint version gets obsolete, so does the repository. Both won't be updated nor maintained. As i understand the way how Mint handles the repository is that it always downlaods the packages from the repository server. And when that repository server is closed, you won't be able to update nor installing any packages.

The only applications you could update are some third-party applications like Firefox or Shutter and such. Thus can when the developers provide 1 single PPA for every version or provive a single .deb packages for download like Mozilla does.

I don't think your idea won't work 100%.

[eanfrid]

Microsoft has a bold experience in allowing technically dead and zombified systems, i.e. allowing their OS to be run for a longer time than a reasonable lifespan. This does not mean that they are right. Even now, they are trying to drastically shorten the normal lifespan of their systems to about 3 years, i.e. the average economical and technical lifespan of a desktop enterprise PC. After that point, you enter in "extended support" for a certain amount of additional time ~ when the N+2 release is out.

Ubuntu LTS have 5 years of support (2+3) and Debian has decided to offer LTS support to old-stable releases, leading to a total of about 6 years of support... when the N+2 stable/LTS release is out or already well established.

[got_mint!]

Yes..... I was wrong about the Ubuntu LTS being 3 years.... you are right its 5 years..... Thanks for that correction!!
And I'll be looking at rolling and debian distros more fully as I play with different Linux spin-offs (SO MUCH TO CHOOSE FROM!!! )
Having my own local repo will be one of my long-term options, with its pros & cons.
Thanks everyone for your great input!!!

[MartyMint]

Having my own local repo will be one of my long-term options, with its pros & cons.

You are going to maintain every app in a local repository, with updates and dependency issues and kernel compatibility?

Like I said, I'm not sure you understand what this means...