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About Ubuntu repositories, updating software, installing new

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aesptux
Posts: 3
Joined: 2010-08-15 11:07

About Ubuntu repositories, updating software, installing new

#1 Post by aesptux »

Hi!

I switched to Debian Testing from Ubuntu several months ago, and now I'm suffering the lack of some software or facilities.

For example I want to update Pidgin 2.7.3 to 2.7.7 to fix a bug, but they don't have a .deb, and on the debian repository 2.7.3 is the last version.

If I try to compile the source code I get a lot of errors.

Other example:

Recently, Synapse the surrogate for Gnome-Do has been released; the problem is the same.. there is not a .deb and I get a lot of errors compiling it.

The instructions for installing Synapse are the following:

Code: Select all

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:synapse-core/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade #required for Lucid only
sudo apt-get install synapse
The first command doesn't work on Debian.

I don't know what can I do, I thought that installing debian testing I wouldn't have this problems... and I don't want to go back to Ubuntu, because I like Debian better, I like how it is structured and it fits better than ubuntu with linux studing books

Thanks in advance.

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nadir
Posts: 5961
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Re: About Ubuntu repositories, updating software, installing

#2 Post by nadir »

how to run a mixed testing/unstable sytem, by rickh:
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=15612

check for yourself if that might lead to trouble (i for one don't know).

Code: Select all

# apt-cache show pidgin | grep Dep
Depends: pidgin-data (>= 2.7.7), pidgin-data (<< 2.7.7-z), libatk1.0-0 (>= 1.29.3), libc6 (>= 2.7), libcairo2 (>= 1.2.4), libdbus-1-3 (>= 1.0.2), libdbus-glib-1-2 (>= 0.78), libfontconfig1 (>= 2.8.0), libfreetype6 (>= 2.2.1), libglib2.0-0 (>= 2.24.0), libgstreamer0.10-0 (>= 0.10.10), libgtk2.0-0 (>= 2.18.0), libgtkspell0 (>= 2.0.10), libice6 (>= 1:1.0.0), libpango1.0-0 (>= 1.18.0), libpurple0 (>= 2.7.0), libsm6, libstartup-notification0 (>= 0.10), libx11-6, libxml2 (>= 2.6.27), libxss1, gconf2 (>= 2.28.1-2), perl-base (>= 5.10.1-16), perlapi-5.10.1
or here: http://packages.debian.org/sid/pidgin


Check this links, seriously:
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debia ... 02.en.html
http://wiki.debian.org/PackageManagement
That is all i say about your second example.
"I am not fine with it, so there is nothing for me to do but stand aside." M.D.

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emoric
Posts: 72
Joined: 2010-10-03 17:29
Location: Katy, TX

Re: About Ubuntu repositories, updating software, installing

#3 Post by emoric »

Just my two cents but...

I myself, would trust Debian's official repository rather than some non-official Ubuntu ppa.

Besides, using an Ubuntu repository in Debian is not exactly a smart thing to do.
Debian is NOT Ubuntu.

jollysnowman
Posts: 134
Joined: 2009-08-29 19:42
Location: Austin, TX

Re: About Ubuntu repositories, updating software, installing

#4 Post by jollysnowman »

What exactly are the problems when compiling? You might just be missing packages required to build stuff from source.

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stevepusser
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Re: About Ubuntu repositories, updating software, installing

#5 Post by stevepusser »

Just backport the 2.7.7 version from the three source files in Sid:

http://packages.debian.org/sid/pidgin

That way you get proper deb files, not files installed into /usr/local that apt knows nothing about. Plus you won't be running mixed repositories, you won't touch the repo list at all. Note that if you have already screwed around with upstream libraries, you will probably find it difficult to install the -dev development versions of the libraries. Best thing is to keep a "pure" Lenny or testing version if you intent to backport things.

Instructions: https://sites.google.com/site/stevosfil ... kports.txt

Let me know if I need to clarify anything in the guide. Pidgin takes maybe 12-15 minutes to finish compiling and packaging on my dual core 2.2 GHz laptop.

However, once Squeeze is released, there will be a squeeze-backports repository that I bet would keep building newer versions of Pidgin.

About Synapse...let me pull the source packages from the PPA and see if it ports over on Squeeze.
Last edited by stevepusser on 2010-12-03 03:38, edited 1 time in total.
MX Linux packager and developer

emariz
Posts: 2901
Joined: 2008-10-17 07:59

Re: About Ubuntu repositories, updating software, installing

#6 Post by emariz »

aesptux wrote:I thought that installing debian testing I wouldn't have this problems...
Well, you obviously missed the "freezing" part.
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debia ... tml#s3.1.9
http://www.debian.org/News/2010/20100806

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Re: About Ubuntu repositories, updating software, installing

#7 Post by stevepusser »

Synapse needs a newer version of valac backported from Debian Experimental, plus you have to port over libzeitgeist libraries from a PPA...it's possible, but I'm not going to the hassle myself.
MX Linux packager and developer

cynwulf

Re: About Ubuntu repositories, updating software, installing

#8 Post by cynwulf »

Install pidgin from unstable like nadir said, not sure about synapse, never heard of it.

aesptux
Posts: 3
Joined: 2010-08-15 11:07

Re: About Ubuntu repositories, updating software, installing

#9 Post by aesptux »

nadir wrote:how to run a mixed testing/unstable sytem, by rickh:
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=15612

... ...

Check this links, seriously:
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debia ... 02.en.html
http://wiki.debian.org/PackageManagement
That is all i say about your second example.
Thanks a lot, I'll read it slowly :)
emariz wrote:
aesptux wrote:I thought that installing debian testing I wouldn't have this problems...
Well, you obviously missed the "freezing" part.
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debia ... tml#s3.1.9
http://www.debian.org/News/2010/20100806
Thanks, I didn't know nothing about the freezing time.
stevepusser wrote:Just backport the 2.7.7 version from the three source files in Sid:

http://packages.debian.org/sid/pidgin

That way you get proper deb files, not files installed into /usr/local that apt knows nothing about. Plus you won't be running mixed repositories, you won't touch the repo list at all. Note that if you have already screwed around with upstream libraries, you will probably find it difficult to install the -dev development versions of the libraries. Best thing is to keep a "pure" Lenny or testing version if you intent to backport things.

Instructions: https://sites.google.com/site/stevosfil ... kports.txt

Let me know if I need to clarify anything in the guide. Pidgin takes maybe 12-15 minutes to finish compiling and packaging on my dual core 2.2 GHz laptop.

However, once Squeeze is released, there will be a squeeze-backports repository that I bet would keep building newer versions of Pidgin.

About Synapse...let me pull the source packages from the PPA and see if it ports over on Squeeze.
Thanks a lot... I followed your instructions and now I have succesfully installed Pidgin 2.7.7 :) It wasn't difficult, but I didn't know anything about backports.
Now I only have to install synapse hehe.

On synapse compilation I get errors because I don't have some libraries, I installed some of them, but I can't install the following libraries:

Code: Select all

checking for SYNAPSE_MODULES... configure: error: Package requirements (  glib-2.0 >= 2.22.0   gtk+-2.0 >= 2.20.0   gtkhotkey-1.0   gobject-2.0   gee-1.0 >= 0.5.2   gio-unix-2.0   dbus-glib-1   json-glib-1.0 >= 0.10.0   unique-1.0   zeitgeist-1.0 >= 0.2.8   ) were not met:

No package 'gee-1.0' found
No package 'unique-1.0' found
No package 'zeitgeist-1.0' found


Seriously, thanks to all of you.

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Re: About Ubuntu repositories, updating software, installing

#10 Post by stevepusser »

Yeah, like I mentioned, Synapse requires you port in all those other updated packages first, install them and their -dev header packages, then use them to build Synapse. You'd have to try and get the source files from Ubuntu or a PPA, if they aren't available in upstream Debian, with the quality unknown from the PPA.

You can use the same backport procedure for quite a few applications, such as Inkscape 0.48 or the GIMP 2.6.11. As the core libraries in Squeeze get older, it will get more difficult in a year or so.
MX Linux packager and developer

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