How to install downloaded software on MX-14?

[joany]

Installing software packages that are not in the repositories:

1. Firefox, Thunderbird, their clones, and some other kinds of downloadable Linux software come in self-contained "tarball" packages that are "installed" simply by unpacking them. This is not the typical case, however.

2. Many downloadable Debian software packages are in the form of .deb files that can be installed using the "dpkg -i packagename.deb" root command.

3. Packages downloaded as .rpm files can be converted into .deb files using the "alien packagename.deb" root command.

4. The remainder of downloadable Linux software is in generic form and requires "compiling from source." There are three steps: configure, make, followed by the root command "make install." A lot of times, the process gets hung up at the configure stage because of missing dependencies. From that point on, the best-case scenario is where all dependencies are either in the repositories or in installable versions you can download. The worst-case scenario is that you'll descend into Dependency Hell, where every new dependency requires another new dependency in an endless chain, or where some dependencies create fatal conflicts with software already installed on your system. Installation is hopeless in Dependency Hell. My success rate with compiling from source is around 50% but YMMV.

5. Finally, there is our wonderful MEPIS Packaging Team, who may be able to create the package you are looking for and add it to the community repositories upon request.

[Stevo]

1. Get four other people.

If possible, make sure one of them is named "LeBron."

Sure, but now the directions are getting complicated!
Some of the "complications" concerning compiling are just as, or more, important.

[lucky9]

To get to 'see' the mepiscr and mepiscr testing choices for Firefox (or Thunderbird, or whatever) you will need to change Preferences/Distribution Tab/ to prefer mepis. Reload. Choose and install. Change Preferences back and disable mepiscr testing is recommended currently.

[CloudWindMoonSun]

5. Finally, there is our wonderful MEPIS Packaging Team, who may be able to create the package you are looking for and add it to the community repositories upon request.

Sounds excellent. How can we contact "our wonderful MEPIS Packaging Team" to ask them create a package for us? Through this forum?

[Jerry3904]

Look at the forums listed on the home page and see if anything strikes you.

[kmathern]

To get to 'see' the mepiscr and mepiscr testing choices for Firefox (or Thunderbird, or whatever) you will need to change Preferences/Distribution Tab/ to prefer mepis. Reload. Choose and install. Change Preferences back and disable mepiscr testing is recommended currently.

That's something you used to need to do with the various Mepis releases (Mepis 12, Mepis 11, etc.), you shouldn't need to do it in MX14 though because the repos are all at the same preference level.
(the testrepo's Firefox and Thunderbird packages show up in Synaptic with the default distro preference setting)

[Stevo]

Installing software packages that are not in the repositories:

...
2. Many downloadable Debian software packages are in the form of .deb files that can be installed using the "dpkg -i packagename.deb" root command.
....

We'd rather people use the default MX gdebi method of installing debs, which you can launch just by clicking the deb file.

There's far too many Ubuntu or otherwise incompatible debs out there, many labeled as "Debian compatible", when they are really not. Dpkg will happily install these, and you'll end up with a broken apt. Gdebi will refuse to install these.

Gdebi does have limitations when it comes to multiarch packages, but that should not appear in MX 14, since it's currently 32-bit only. An example would be the teamviewer 9 deb package in 64-bit M12.

[joany]

We'd rather people use the default MX gdebi method of installing debs, which you can launch just by clicking the deb file.

There's far too many Ubuntu or otherwise incompatible debs out there, many labeled as "Debian compatible", when they are really not. Dpkg will happily install these, and you'll end up with a broken apt. Gdebi will refuse to install these.

Good point. I always read the notes before installing anything not in the repositories. (I also started reading the notes for things in the repositories as well, because I've had some unpleasant surprises even then.) If I see that a .deb package was designed for Ubuntu, I always steered clear of it, but the Gdebi method sounds safer.

[uncle mark]

We'd rather people use the default MX gdebi method of installing debs, which you can launch just by clicking the deb file.

There's far too many Ubuntu or otherwise incompatible debs out there, many labeled as "Debian compatible", when they are really not. Dpkg will happily install these, and you'll end up with a broken apt. Gdebi will refuse to install these.

Gdebi does have limitations when it comes to multiarch packages, but that should not appear in MX 14, since it's currently 32-bit only. An example would be the teamviewer 9 deb package in 64-bit M12.

IIUC, gdebi will also pull in any necessary dependencies, while dpkg will simply error out.

[lucky9]

Does gdebi use the same preference settings as Synaptic?