Build Debian packages and offer them in PPAs
Wrapped with a Bow on Top
© Lead Image © belchonock, 123RF.com
Is the current package for your favorite Ubuntu program woefully behind the times? No problem: Just a few steps creates an updated Debian package that you can then share with others in a PPA.
Although your favorite Debian distro comes with many thousands of packages, some updated tools are still occasionally missing. Eventually, the maintainers might offer the corresponding packages themselves, but packaging these tools in a timely manner for each release of a distribution can be difficult.
If you want to use a new version of a program that is not yet included in your current distribution, you can create a solution yourself without any expertise in building Debian packages. If the package sources for the old version are available, constructing packages from them for the new version is usually pretty easy to do. A positive side effect is that you have the opportunity to do something good for the open source community: Provide your packages to Launchpad [1] via a PPA (Personal Package Archive) and share the results of your work with other users.
In this article, I describe an example of how to build a new, updated Debian package from old sources for the KDE backup software Kup. Most of your work will be in the terminal, because you'll be working in a chroot environment, which only makes sense from the command line. Basic knowledge of the command line's general functionality is therefore required, and you should be familiar with the important commands. The first step involves creating a suitable environment for constructing the package.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
There's a New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle is a Linux AI assistant that can work with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.
-
FreeBSD Promises a Full Desktop Installer
FreeBSD has lacked an option to include a full desktop environment during installation.
-
Linux Hits an Important Milestone
If you pay attention to the news in the Linux-sphere, you've probably heard that the open source operating system recently crashed through a ceiling no one thought possible.
-
Plasma Bigscreen Returns
A developer discovered that the Plasma Bigscreen feature had been sitting untouched, so he decided to do something about it.
-
CachyOS Now Lets Users Choose Their Shell
Imagine getting the opportunity to select which shell you want during the installation of your favorite Linux distribution. That's now a thing.
-
Wayland 1.24 Released with Fixes and New Features
Wayland continues to move forward, while X11 slowly vanishes into the shadows, and the latest release includes plenty of improvements.
-
Bugs Found in sudo
Two critical flaws allow users to gain access to root privileges.
-
Fedora Continues 32-Bit Support
In a move that should come as a relief to some portions of the Linux community, Fedora will continue supporting 32-bit architecture.