Is there a currently maintained AUR equivalent for Debian? MPR/Makedeb are unmaintained
To cut to the chase, Flatpak is nice to have, but isn't a complete replacement, and the other suggested "replacement", Pacstall, targets Ubuntu instead of base Debian. If you want more detail, read the spoiler:
::: spoiler spoiler
I use EndeavourOS as my daily driver, so I'm used to the sheer convenience of the AUR. However, I'm not a fan of how that convenience is tied to a continually-changing rolling release distro. This becomes especially apparent whenever a major KDE update comes out, or the Arch Linux people decide to make yet another big change.
Debian is the other main distro I use. I mostly install it on systems I don't intend to use often, but recently I started dual-booting it on my main desktop. I like how slowly things change in the Debian world, and if it were easier to run uncommon software on it, I'd probably use it more.
I know Debian can use Flatpak, and while it is nice to have, it's not a complete replacement for the AUR. The other "replacement" MPR/Makedeb's developer suggested is Pacstall, but that's for Ubuntu and not base Debian. If Ubuntu were the same distro it were back when 20.04 came out, I wouldn't be opposed to using it, but Ubuntu's gone to shit since then.
:::
EDIT: Inb4 Distrobox too.
EDIT2: The reason I want an AUR equivalent is convenience. Yes, I commit the cardinal sin of using an AUR helper when I use EndeavourOS. I like being able to install things and have them integrate into my normal system package management without having to manually set up scripts.
17 replies
If you don't want to move to Debian Testing, then the only similar thing is Backports https://backports.debian.org/
I'm as in the cult as they get, so I'm pretty bias, but you could try nix package manager
installable on any distro, and claims to have a larger package library than the AUR.
I guess Distrobox is the way to go.
Thanks for reminding me. That's another thing I should've inb4'd.
is there something specific you want that isn't on the debian repo? i believe they have almost the largest repo among distros.
my distro (slackware) has very few packages, for things i need that aren't available i just compile from source. especially with stable distros it's not a big deal because you don't have to recompile often
I remember joystickwake was one of the main things that pushed me to try the MPR a few years ago, when I was testing Debian on my laptop. I got so frustrated with setting up the MPR that I just installed EndeavourOS.
Mesen-CE is another program I use that's not in Debian's repos. It's not too hard to set up without it, but it'd be nice if it were there.
I don't think vkquake is in Debian's repos either, but I'm not 100% sure about that. It recently made it into Arch's main repos, which is cool.
I'm not sure if Faugus Launcher is in Debian's repos either.
EDIT: I just double-checked. None of these programs are in Debian's repos, but Faugus is on Flathub.
yeah, these things are all trivial to compile.
i suggest not dealing with things like MPR for this; just set --prefix=/opt or something similar when compiling the program, and install everything to /opt.
in slackware this is very easy to deal with, as the package manager is extremely basic and basically just unpacks tarballs and logs its file list somewhere. 'packages' are just tarballs so you just compile anything with a prefix to a temporary dir, tarball that dir and install it with the 'package manager' to keep track of things. this is simple enough so you can do similarly on debian without switching distros or using slackware's scripts
I don't think it's a sin to use an AUR helper such as
yayat all (me too BTW). The sin is, not to read the AUR scripts or to trust random sources in the script.As for your main question, I am not aware of a user repository in the style of AUR for Debian. Maybe you could use NIX package system, that you can install on any OS that is not read only. Or as others suggested, maybe Distrobox and then use AUR directly. But these are only workarounds, not a clean solution.
I don't recommend anyone use the AUR if it can be at all avoided.
The AUR is just a script that builds the package from source so you could just make your own bash scripts to do that? I don't remember my cmake commands off the top of my head but I think it's just;
Those bash scripts might also be in the repo as
pkgbuildso you can copy it from there but you'll have to change any ArchLinux specific command to debian.But I do; not everyone, but certain people. In example me as a certain people. I use the AUR since years and it has been great.
That's why its okay to use, if you know what you are doing and what you need.
Exactly. But then it is not integrated into the other packages (when we speak about AUR helpers), which includes handling dependencies and other stuff. Also it is much better to use scripts from others that are well tested and checked and updated. With the caveat that you don't trust everyone and will always check the script and sources before updating.
It's not always just
cmake. In fact there are many ways. Some even download pre-compiled binaries (from those sources you trust off course), others require custom work before making it work, with correct versioning and so on.I do not recommend that, unless it is very clear this could work. Because the dependencies are different. But with care and knowledge, as a starting point one could probably simply change scripts to make them work on Debian.
I thought makedeb was still the answer? Or checkinstall or whatever?
Famous last words. But if you really know how to use the AUR you can create your own PKGBUILDs for whatever it is you want.
What do you want? Your OP sounds like you want to combine different package management systems.
I want an AUR, but for Debian. Same thing, PKGBUILDS included, but targeting apt instead of pacman, and Debian's packages instead of Arch's. I feel like it would work well since Debian has a stable base, so it'd be easy to build packages against it.
Ah, OK. There's no marketplace for self-made Debian packages that I know of, but of course it's still possible to make them, even create your own repositories and add them to your apt. And in good old Debian fashion it's going to be way more low-level, and confusing to find definite documentation. One thing I'm seeing again and again is
dpkg-deband otherdpkg-*commands.https://debian-handbook.info/browse/stable/debian-packaging.html
https://dario.griffo.io/posts/ultimate-guide-debian-packaging/
https://www.baeldung.com/linux/create-debian-package
Pity makedeb is unmaintained. But maybe still usable?
No, and there probably shouldn't be. Most software I want is packaged as a deb or flatpak, or can be git cloned or tar xzf'd and run. I've never found it difficult.
You can add Ubuntu PPAs if you really want to, but you will likely run into dependency issues fairly quick.
That's a terrible idea and shouldn't even be suggested. I learned that the hard way about 15 years ago trying to get graphics drivers working on Crunchbang.
Then you already know the perils of adding sketchy software sources like AUR.