Approved repositories

Submitted by nesredep on Thu, 01/25/2007 - 16:48. Install Software

I'm somewhat puzzled about repositories. When I look in the Mepis "approved" repositories (including the development one), for things such as tomcat5.5 or mythtv20, I find nothing. I don't get it?! Tomcat5.5 is OLD news, but it's not even on the table! Mythtv is offered at version .18, which is ancient.
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I know what you mean. I noticed I had an old version of gnupg, but couldn't update it with the ubuntu repositories.

I then stupdily added a Debian repository but found out, too late, that they aren't compatible with ubuntu and have now screwed the system so that I can't make any changes to it.

It's just that I expected Debian to be Debian, and didn't realize Mepis was a kind of hybrid of Debian as well as being a subsidiary of Ubuntu.

At least the OS seems to continue to be running, but when I finally get around to upgrading, it won't be to another version of Mepis. I don't know what it will be, but this oddball Mepis/ubuntu setup is not to my taste. I like Debian, but in that case I would like to use a Debian version that can use the Debian repositories.

I hear pclinux os is pretty user-friendly, even though it uses rpm, and may go that route.

I've enjoyed Mepis, and Warren Woodford has a great touch in choosing programs for the initial installation.

By the way, the problem I have is with a broken package, libc6, which seems to be central to running the OS. I can't seem to do anything with it without doing something to every other program on the system. If anybody has a suggestion as to how to straighten it out, I'd appreciate it.

The debian depository I stupidly used is:
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian etch main contrib non-free

in case that is relevant. I've since removed it from the list of packages in the repository.

I'm very unqualified to comment, but I think the "Debian-ness" of distros such as Ubuntu and Mepis lies in doing things "the Debian way", more than just what repositories they use. The way your computer files are organized, and certain basic essential features, and the package management that keeps track of installed features in an ongoing way--these are all part of what you get.

You might not be satisfied with that either. There are problems with the Debian repositories too. Ubuntu seems to do quite well, but Mepis isn't quite keeping up--at least that's my impression. Nobody has seen fit to reply to my question on here, so I'm just guessing.

My suggestion to you is don't give up on Mepis; you won't find any perfect distros (believe me, I've looked!). Post your request (if you haven't already) with a subject like "libc6 package broke my system", with detailed explanation and description of symptoms, and see if you can't get the help you need.

John

Thanks for the reply, that helps put it in perspective. I think I'll reinstall using the dvd which I just downloaded, and keep the old home directory.

I imagine the dvd will have pretty much everything I'll want as far as packages go.

Before you reinstall, you might want to delete the /selinux directory from your present installation. There's nothing in it anyway, but once upon a time I ran into a problem doing installs while preserving home, and the fix that I found was to delete /selinux. Don't know if that was ever fixed.

John