Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

kgilmer · 2019-06-17 01:04:49

Hello! I work on another Linux distro that is based from Ubuntu. Some users have asked that I support Debian as well. I am not an insider of the Linux distro world and have limited exposure to how things are done. I do know that my approach to making Regolith will not work (PPAs and Cubic LiveCD creator) on Debian, but am wondering if anyone has guidance or some links they can give to me so I can understand what needs to be done to make this happen.

FWIW I was a big #! user back in the day and it's awesome to see you're keeping the flame burning bright!

Thanks in advance!
ken

https://github.com/regolith-linux/regol … /issues/32

Last edited by kgilmer (2019-06-18 02:52:36)

johnraff · 2019-06-17 05:55:55

[Mod hat on] Moved to "Help & Support (Other)".
"Development & Suggestions" is specifically for discussing the development of BunsenLabs.

[Mod hat off] Hi kgilmer, your question as to how to make a Debian-based version of a currently Ubuntu-based distro is rather broad to handle in a single topic. In general, Ubuntu is also Debian based, so the underlying structure is pretty much the same. But, as you have found with "Regolith", Ubuntu PPAs should not be used with Debian as they often rely on different libraries, or different versions, or locate the libraries in different paths.

I suggest you either change the title of your topic to the Regolith issue alone, or else open a new one for that, and leave this topic for more general questions about the differences between Debian and Ubuntu.

kgilmer · 2019-06-18 02:53:23

Thanks for your help John. I've updated the title to be hopefully more specific.

johnraff · 2019-06-18 04:15:05

Maybe your next step would be to narrow things down a bit more by asking a specific question about what problem you have.

(I'm not saying I'll be able to help in any way BTW.)

Last edited by johnraff (2019-06-18 04:15:56)

cog · 2019-06-18 07:51:32

The main differences are that you’re gonna have to rebuild, host some stuff yourself and learn another installer.

There’s no free hosting like PPAs in Debian and Ubiquity is Ubuntu centric.

Ken, you could probably rebuild your stuff using pbuilder, then use a vps like DigitalOcean with reprepro installed to take care or your launchpad ppa issue. The next thing you have solve is the installer. Most Debian derrivaritives looking to give a similar experience to Ubiquity seem to use calamares these days. I’ve never been down the installer rabbit hole except with Archiso which was nice and simple.

BTW, Regolith looks like a nice desktop. Almost installed it last week. Good luck.

hhh · 2019-06-19 00:11:54

If anyone is still wondering what these doods are talking about...

https://regolith-linux.org/

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/06/ins … aps-ubuntu

https://calamares.io/

https://packages.debian.org/buster/calamares

kgilmer · 2019-06-19 04:56:28

@cog and @hhh, thank you! This is exactly what I need. I think the first step will be hosting the Debian-native packages on a VPS. From user feedback so far I think this will satisfy most of the people that would want Regolith. I very much appreciate your time and advice!

stevep · 2019-06-20 01:48:49

You can use the free openSUSE Build Service to build your packages from source for both Debian and Ubuntu (and many other types of packages, too), and it will also create a repo automatically once they are built. I have a few, myself--this is the first one I did:

https://build.opensuse.org/package/show … r/palemoon

DeepDayze · 2019-06-20 01:58:34

@kgilmer, I took a look at the Regolith site. It sure looks like cool desktop and rolling a Debian base for it sounds like another good idea. There are some people here who are fans of i3 and maybe they can help you in some ways in getting Regolith ported to Debian.

hhh · 2019-06-20 02:10:10

DeepDayze wrote:

... rolling a Debian base for it

Be sure to follow the siduction forums as well, that's a cool, small group of devs who have been hacking Debian unstable (sid) for a long time...

https://forum.siduction.org/index.php?board=22.0

If you register there and ask your questions very precisely (they're German) and don't ask about audio or video support (again, Deutschland, Bundesrepublik Deutschland to be, erm... Germanic about it), they'll most likely be very helpful if they have the time to spare.

kgilmer · 2019-06-20 04:21:53

Ah, I recall hearing about openSUSE build service at SCaLE one year but didn't connect the dots in my head. This would def be preferable to having to manage a host. Thanks for the tip @stevep.

@DeepDayze, yeah I've added the "help wanted" tag to the issue, so maybe someone will be able to help out before I get to it.

@hhh good to know. The A/V stuff won't be a danger as I think it's up to users to decide what apps they [don't] want. But thanks for the warning

DeepDayze · 2019-06-21 01:03:50

hhh wrote:

DeepDayze wrote:
... rolling a Debian base for it
Be sure to follow the siduction forums as well, that's a cool, small group of devs who have been hacking Debian unstable (sid) for a long time...
https://forum.siduction.org/index.php?board=22.0
If you register there and ask your questions very precisely (they're German) and don't ask about audio or video support (again, Deutschland, Bundesrepublik Deutschland to be, erm... Germanic about it), they'll most likely be very helpful if they have the time to spare.

Yes I been a member ever since when that distro used to be called sidux then aptosid. Siduction split off from that. Still that is a very solid Sid-based distro (I still run it on another machine).

They do have a few members who use i3 as desktop I believe as well and may contribute ideas. Definitely a great group over there.

Last edited by DeepDayze (2019-06-21 01:04:24)

hhh · 2019-06-21 01:42:16

(continuing OT...)

aptosid was my first distro after Ubuntu. @gutterslob suggested either #! or aptosid. I tried both and went with sid (#! might have still been based on Ubuntu at the time, I can't remember. I think it was, and the switch to Debian with statler came soon after. But it was too late!

And then I was away from my computer for 6 months and when I finally upgraded... *booooommmm!!!!!!!*

Debian stable ever since, except for testing partitions. I've been running testing as my primary OS during the last few release freezes (jessie, stretch, now buster), then switch to stable when it's out.

DeepDayze · 2019-06-21 02:15:21

On topic, this sounds like an interesting project the OP wants to do, and I hope he succeeds in bringing Regolith to Debian, and maybe add a touch of BL to it considering he was a #!'er in the past

Last edited by DeepDayze (2019-06-21 02:16:03)

brontosaurusrex · 2019-06-24 16:29:27

I'd like to see Regolith for Debian as well.

beaker · 2019-06-24 20:30:33

I'd prefer to see it with wayland/sway than i3. Sway seems to run reasonably well on debian (although I'm not sufficiently familiar with either i3 or sway to know if I'm encountering bugs or features )

DeepDayze · 2019-06-25 01:16:00

beaker wrote:

I'd prefer to see it with wayland/sway than i3. Sway seems to run reasonably well on debian (although I'm not sufficiently familiar with either i3 or sway to know if I'm encountering bugs or features )

That might be for a future project once Wayland becomes mature enough.

Colonel Panic · 2024-11-21 20:35:07

Just bumping this thread. I've been visiting the Regolith website recently and the latest version of Regolith, 3.2, can be installed in either Debian Testing or Stable (Bookworm).

https://regolith-desktop.com/docs/using … h/install/

I've currently got it working in Voyager (based on Ubuntu 24.04). It needs a bit of tweaking for me though; conky doesn't show up well against the textured grey background (lunar surface?) and also stays in the foreground even when you open a window or two, which can be irritating.

Some of the commands remind me of Wordstar with its key chords - carrying a window to a workspace between 11 and 19, for example (yes it does have that many workspaces), requires the sequence Ctrl-Super-Alt 1 to 9.

Last edited by Colonel Panic (2024-11-22 15:05:56)

Colonel Panic · 2024-11-25 20:03:54

Update; I've added the bunch of themes on the Regolith website and it's all working well except (a small gripe), the windows all line up horizontally and I so far haven't found a way to do the "master window on the left and all the other windows stacked vertically on the right" thing I can do in dwm and in spectrwm, which is my go-to tiling window manager.

Last edited by Colonel Panic (2024-11-25 21:07:43)

Colonel Panic · 2025-02-05 18:18:42

Trying Regolith again (in Mint) and I'm finding that not all of it works - for example, the key bindings that are supposed to give you a list of applications (Windows + Space) don't go anywhere. I will persevere with it though, at least until I find a better tiling window manager - they all have their flaws or shortcomings.

EDIT: I've just installed the latest version I could find of the Regolith distro (based on Ubuntu 21.04), and was [pleased to find that it does still have a fully working application menu. Maybe there's a way to just copy the scripts over from this one to the currently incomplete Mint installation.

Last edited by Colonel Panic (2025-02-08 13:25:28)

#1 2019-06-17 01:04:49

Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#2 2019-06-17 05:55:55

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#3 2019-06-18 02:53:23

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#4 2019-06-18 04:15:05

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#5 2019-06-18 07:51:32

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#6 2019-06-19 00:11:54

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#7 2019-06-19 04:56:28

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#8 2019-06-20 01:48:49

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#9 2019-06-20 01:58:34

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#10 2019-06-20 02:10:10

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#11 2019-06-20 04:21:53

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#12 2019-06-21 01:03:50

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#13 2019-06-21 01:42:16

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#14 2019-06-21 02:15:21

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#15 2019-06-24 16:29:27

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#16 2019-06-24 20:30:33

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#17 2019-06-25 01:16:00

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#18 2024-11-21 20:35:07

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#19 2024-11-25 20:03:54

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

#20 2025-02-05 18:18:42

Re: Guidance on adapting a set of Ubuntu deb packages to a Debian distro

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