Lets Let APT-URL Install Repositories
APT-URL is one of my favorite programs. The great thing about it is I can keep a list of programs I like on a website and easily install all the program I like on a new box, or point someone new to Ubuntu to the website with all my favorite programs. The problem is that with the personal package archives, letting users run there own repositories on launchpad, and many great programs using there own repository’s you need to add them to your source.list file before you can use any of those great programs.
My solution, let APT-URL add a repository after giving a warning of course. Is this dangerous, sure it is but we can take a similar approach to this that Firefox does, only let trusted websites add to the source.list file. So on a trusted website like launchpad you would get a message like “launchpad.net is trying to add the following repository” compared to a random website that might say “wiki.earobinson.org is trying to add a repository if this is a trusted website please click yes otherwise click no”. This would add some risk but the benefit to the user is huge. Please support this idea by voting for it at the Ubuntu brainstorm.
Did you know that you can already have apt http:// URLs?
For instance, this links to a package in a specific repository.
You mean like this http://wiki.earobinson.org/index.php5?title=Ubuntu_Quick_Install. What I want is to be able to install miro from the miro repos via APT_URL http://www.getmiro.com/download/ubuntu.php
Okay, so you’re blog doesn’t seem to like the way I write comments
You can have aptPLUShttp URLs.
apt+http://archive.canonical.com?package=acroread?dist=feisty?section=commercial
This will install Acroread from the Commercial repository.
If you can edit this comment I think this will be better for your readers. … EDITED
Dedalus I edited it and it still dont seem to work, the code for it exists it was just disabled for security reasons as I recall. If I got the url wrong please comment or email me earobinson at ubuntu dot com.
apt+http://pdigin wont work for me but apt://pidgin work though.
EDIT apt://archive.canonical.com?package=acroread?dist=feisty?section=commercial also wont work
If I recall correctly, a well-crafted .deb can install a repository. So once you’ve added one repository the old-fashioned way, that repository can hold .debs to install others.
So it seems simple you could have one master repository, that would hold other “trusted” repositories. Even though the first one isn’t “free for the taking”, it would alleviate a lot of concern about security.
See idea #2629: apturl in Evince with PDF files
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/2629/
I don’t think it’s a good idea from security’s POV.
PLease take a look at this spec:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ThirdPartyApt
This has already been discussed.
I’d like to see this capability reenabled if the security concerns can be resolved. It would definitely make life easier and I’d like to add the ability to Linux App Finder. I already have the code in place.
Chad
http://linuxappfinder.com
HELLLLL no.
Ubuntu should not be as stupid as windows. “A warning” really means: a screen ‘everyone’ will blindly click ok on. It won’t actually do anything productive.
If we do add this ability, I hope *you* personally plan on providing support to every single person who is bitten by this, including helping them recreate whatever data they’ve lost due to maliciousness. Oh, and you may have to untarnish the reputation of Linux as more secure than windows as well.
Good luck with that.
Okay, so it looks like aptPLUShttp has been disabled for security concerns, but I am sure that it used to work!
“wiki.earobinson.org is trying to add a repository if this is a trusted website please click yes otherwise click no”
I think we need to get rid of the yes/no dialog mentality. Annoying nitpicking, I know, but “yes” should have been “Install” and “no” should have been “Don’t install”. No idea about the security thing, though
No! Newbies do not need this feature, it’s far too dangerous to let them do it, (security-wise and support-wise), intermediate users can already do it through a automatically installed GUI and through the command line.
[...] – check this out too: http://www.earobinson.org/2008/03/06/lets-let-apt-url-install-epositories/ – might be cool to pair that with dpkg-www for some interesting web-based management and [...]
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