On Mon, 15 Nov 2010 14:22:13 +1100, Rob Hurle wrote: > I'm quite new to debian and I'm getting my head around dpkg, apt-get, > aptitude and synaptic. Does anyone have advice on the best way to > handle a .deb package? Can I make up my own repository of .deb packages > and point apt-get at that to install packages? I've installed one or > two small things (gcc and gnu make) using dpkg, but I wondered if there > was a better way to do this. I've just downloaded opera and it comes in > a .deb package, so this is my next task. apt or dpkg - or even > synaptic?
This is just my POW (and I'm quite new to Debian deb packaging system) but here it goes :-) apt-get / aptitude / synaptic (GUI based interface) are "repository" based package managers, meaning they will resolve any dependency issue you can encounter when installing packages form repos. Repositories can be online based (ftp.debian.org) or local directory based (you can have your own repository in your lan). "dpkg" is a package manager, you can use it for installing standalone packages (I did so for my UPS monitoring program that was only available as a single ".deb" package from manufacturer's site). In brief: I always try to get packages from Debian repositories (whenever possible/available) and so using apt-get or synaptic. If not there, you can download from upstream and install them locally... hoping not to get a conflict, library missing or dependency error :-P Recommended for reading: Chapter 2. Debian package management http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/debian-reference/ch02.en.html As for Opera: http://wiki.debian.org/Opera The last time I installed Opera was under openSUSE, but it was installed without a glitch (yes, I remember I had to get the package directly from Opera site) Greetings, -- Camaleón -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/pan.2010.11.15.09.40...@gmail.com
