The deb-get tool helps Ubuntu (and derivative distro) fans grab extra apps

Hmm. Thinking about the stricter security measures for repo signing and keyring storage, deprecating apt-key, trusted.gpg etc, aiming to prevent a repository from shipping packages that the administrator does not expect that repository to ship.
https://wiki.debian.org/DebianRepository/UseThirdParty

This almost feels like a tool designed to circumvent all of that.

The idea is cool, but it is a bit slow. For most people it would probably be less hassle and time to simply download their one or two apps from a browser. The other thing is: these kind of tools are most useful if they come with your distro out of the box. Having to install/update an app that then helps install/update (for most users) one or two other apps is a bit stretch. On the other hand, maybe it will mature a little and be adopted wore widely in the future. I still like the idea of the Software Boutique app, although I never had a true use-case for it.

Okay this is super helpful.

developed by Martin Wimpress, lead on Ubuntu MATE

That makes it reliable in my eyes too 👍️.

There's a couple of things I might use this for. Mostly open source games, actually.
(But yes, I'll probably wait until it's available straight from my distro)


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 5 May 2022 at 2:09 pm UTC

Interesting… I've always just manually downloaded the deb file. You can then install with apt:
cd ~/Downloads
sudo apt install -y ./code_1.66.2-1649663260_arm64.deb

This has the benefit of adding (in this case) vscode to apt's automated update cycle. I would assume deb-get doesn't auto update due to the update command.

I also don't see an arm version of deb-get - that may be more useful. On arm, sublime-text doesn't install properly. I use the snap version to get full functionality. It would be interesting to see if deb-get installs it correctly.

This has the benefit of adding (in this case) vscode to apt's automated update cycle.

Only because this particular `.deb` file sets up a repository and a key in your back, allowing Microsoft to replace every file on your distro in your back and have full control to be your own computer sysadmin (Yes that's also a problem PPA have too).

Any program installing this `.deb` file, being `apt` or something else (`dpkg`, `gdebi`, whatever…) will set the repository and the key to give full package and file replacement permission to Microsoft, because those permissions are set up by the package itself, not `apt` or any program installing the `.deb` file.

This has the benefit of adding (in this case) vscode to apt's automated update cycle.

Only because this particular `.deb` file sets up a repository and a key in your back, allowing Microsoft to replace every file on your distro in your back and have full control to be your own computer sysadmin (Yes that's also a problem PPA have too).

Any program installing this `.deb` file, being `apt` or something else (`dpkg`, `gdebi`, whatever…) will set the repository and the key to give full package and file replacement permission to Microsoft, because those permissions are set up by the package itself, not `apt` or any program installing the `.deb` file.

So do you mean Microsoft in specific or just anyone in general, Microsoft just being an appropriately annoying example? Because I'm not seeing what this would have to do with Microsoft specifically.

hmmm... useful as it might be, i looked over the list of software and it seems very "office" centric and "winisms" and nothing particularly gaming, linux, or edge case usage

as is, i actively maintain my own /build/ folder and manually check for git releases and build them myself

but i can see the benefits for people if they dont have a ppa for some of those
off the top i can see discord doesnt have a PPA - get the deb from their website.
however vivaldi does have a ppa.
google earth pro also has a ppa.

yeah honestly nothing in the software list interests me in the slightest.

Another feather in the FOSS cap. :)

The project is very interesting - I've been opening a few requests and some gets accepted pretty fast, others a bit slower.

I think this is handy for discovery, quick setup, and maintaining updates. I didn't even know that the Zoom app I have was outdated (I'm more used to Zoom natively installed - I've had bad experiences with screen sharing before and prefer to play it safe. I'll definitely keep using this as I distro-hop - it'll save time for apps like browsers and it'll help keep some apps like Bitwarden up to date (both of which I prefer to have installed natively due to native host messaging still borked on flatpak).

I hope that more third party projects lands on pacstall and deb-get because having a script that can install and update these things makes my live so much simpler.

This has the benefit of adding (in this case) vscode to apt's automated update cycle.

Only because this particular `.deb` file sets up a repository and a key in your back, allowing Microsoft to replace every file on your distro in your back and have full control to be your own computer sysadmin (Yes that's also a problem PPA have too).

Any program installing this `.deb` file, being `apt` or something else (`dpkg`, `gdebi`, whatever…) will set the repository and the key to give full package and file replacement permission to Microsoft, because those permissions are set up by the package itself, not `apt` or any program installing the `.deb` file.

So do you mean Microsoft in specific or just anyone in general, Microsoft just being an appropriately annoying example? Because I'm not seeing what this would have to do with Microsoft specifically.

Anyone in general. I was talking about Microsoft because I responded to a comment using vscode as an example. But PPAs in general are bad: every maintainer of a PPA you add to your system is actually root on your machine. Adding a PPA requires the same precautions as when hiring a sysadmin or contracting a maintenance enterprise: they will be root on your machine and you would have to trust them. On every `apt-get upgrade` a PPA maintainer can add a piece of code to your system to delete, exfiltrate or encrypt all your data, steal your passwords and certificates, impersonate you, open backdoors, etc.

Installing a distro requires the same trust, but at least you can evaluate the distro once for all as a whole (like trusting a IT company to maintain your IT). PPAs require to re-evaluate the trust anytime one is added.