/deb-get

apt-get functionality for .debs published in 3rd party repositories or via direct download 📦

Primary LanguageShellMIT LicenseMIT

deb-get
deb-get

apt-get functionality for .debs published in 3rd party repositories or via direct download. It works on Ubuntu and derivative distributions.
Made with 💝 for

Introduction

deb-get makes it easy to install and update .debs published in 3rd party apt repositories or made available via direct download on websites or GitHub release pages.

Install

Use deb-get to install deb-get.

sudo apt install curl
curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wimpysworld/deb-get/main/deb-get | sudo -E bash -s install deb-get

Alternatively, you can download the .deb of deb-get from the releases page and install it manually.

Usage

Here's an example of how to install Google Chrome.

deb-get install google-chrome-stable

You can see what applications are supported by using deb-get list or you can search the available applications with deb-get search <app>.

You can upgrade packages installed using deb-get by running deb-get upgrade.

deb-get {update | upgrade | show pkg | install pkg | reinstall pkg | remove pkg
| purge pkg | search pkg | cache | clean | list | prettylist | help | version}

deb-get provides a high-level commandline interface for the package management
system to easily install and update packages published in 3rd party apt
repositories or via direct download.

update
        update is used to resynchronize the package index files from their sources.

upgrade
        upgrade is used to install the newest versions of all packages currently installed on the system.

install
        install is followed by one package desired for installation or upgrading.

reinstall
        reinstall is followed by one package desired for reinstallation.

remove
        remove is identical to install except that packages are removed instead of installed.

purge
        purge is identical to remove except that packages are removed and purged (any configuration files are deleted too).

clean
        clean clears out the local repository (/var/cache/deb-get) of retrieved package files.

search
        search for the given regex(7) term(s) from the list of available packages supported by deb-get and display matches.

show
        show information about the given package including its install source and update mechanism.

list
        list the packages available via deb-get.

prettylist
        markdown formatted list the packages available via deb-get. Use this to update README.md

cache
        list the contents of the deb-get cache (/var/cache/deb-get)

help
        show this help

version
        show deb-get version

Why?

3rd party apt repositories exist. They are not going away.

Some application vendors and projects express their support for Debian/Ubuntu by publishing .debs of their software as direct downloads or via their own apt repositories. deb-get makes it easy to find, install and update .debs published in this way.

  • Perhaps you want to use software that is not (yet) officially packaged for Debian/Ubuntu.
  • Perhaps you want to use software that is fast moving and newer versions are available from the vendor/project.
  • Perhaps you want to use some non-free software that Debian/Ubuntu cannot distribute due to licensing restrictions.

deb-get tries to remedy this by providing a curated index of software available for Ubuntu that is published by the project or vendor. deb-get is inspired by Software Boutique, a graphical application I co-authored that does much the same thing and has been included in Ubuntu MATE since 2015.

Supported Software

The software below can be installed, updated and removed using deb-get.

  • deb-get install <packagename>
  • deb-get update
  • deb-get upgrade
  • deb-get remove <packagename>
  • deb-get purge <packagename>
Source Package Name Description
1password The easiest way to store and use strong passwords.
android-messages-desktop Run Android Messages as a desktop app.
antimicrox A graphical program used to map keyboard buttons and mouse controls to a gamepad.
anydesk Access any device at any time. From anywhere. Always secure and fast.
atom A hackable text editor for the 21st Century.
azure-cli Command-line interface used to create and manage Azure resources.
azuredatastudio Data management tool for working with SQL Server, Azure SQL DB and SQL DW.
balena-etcher-electron Flash OS images to SD cards & USB drives, safely and easily.
bat A 'cat' clone with wings.
battery-monitor An X-platform utility tool developed on Python, notifies about charging, discharging, and critically low battery state of the battery on laptop.
beersmith3 Home Brewing Software.
bitwarden Open Source Password Manager.
blockbench A low-poly 3D model editor
brave-browser Browse privately. Search privately. And ditch Big Tech.
brisqi An offline-first personal Kanban app.
caprine Elegant Facebook Messenger desktop app.
cawbird Twitter client for the Linux desktop.
chronograf Open source monitoring and visualization UI for the TICK stack.
code Code editing. Redefined.
codium Community-driven, freely-licensed binary distribution of Microsoft's Code editor.
copyq An advanced clipboard manager with editing and scripting features.
corectrl A Free and Open Source GNU/Linux application that allows you to control with ease your computer hardware using application profiles.
dbeaver-ce Database GUI Client
deadbeef The ultimate music player
deb-get 'apt-get' functionality for .debs published in 3rd party repositories or via direct download package.
discord A place that makes it easy to talk every day and hang out more often.
docker-ce Open source containerization technology for building and containerizing your applications.
docker-desktop The fastest way to containerize applications.
draw.io Diagramming and whiteboarding app that wraps the core draw.io editor.
dropbox Securely share, store and do more with your content.
duf Disk Usage/Free Utility - a better 'df' alternative.
dustracing2d Dust Racing 2D is a traditional top-down car racing game including a level editor.
element-desktop Secure and independent communication, connected via Matrix.
enpass Remember one master password and let Enpass take care of the rest.
exodus Bitcoin & Crypto Wallet.
expressvpn Popular VPN software
fd A simple, fast and user-friendly alternative to 'find'.
figma-linux Unofficial Electron-based Figma desktop app for Linux.
firefox-esr Firefox Extended Support Release.
foliate A simple and modern eBook viewer for Linux desktops.
franz A messaging app for WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Slack, Telegram and many many more.
fsearch Fast file search utility.
gamehub Unified library for all your games.
geforcenow-electron Desktop client for Nvidia's GeForce NOW game streaming service.
gh GitHub CLI brings GitHub to your terminal. Free and open source.
git-delta A syntax-highlighting pager for 'git', 'diff', and 'grep' output.
github-desktop Simple collaboration from your desktop.
gitkraken Intuitive Git GUI & powerful Git CLI.
gitter A chat and networking platform to manage and connect communities through messaging, content and discovery.
google-chat-electron An unofficial desktop app for Google Chat.
google-chrome-stable Fast, Secure Browser from Google.
google-earth-pro-stable Explore worldwide satellite imagery and 3D buildings and terrain for hundreds of cities.
grype A vulnerability scanner for container images and filesystems.
heroic An Open Source GOG and Epic games launcher.
hugo Open-source static site generator.
hyper A terminal built on web technologies.
igdm Continue your Instagram direct messages from your phone to your desktop.
influxdb Scalable datastore for metrics, events, and real-time analytics.
influxdb2 Scalable datastore for metrics, events, and real-time analytics.
influxdb2-cli CLI for managing resources in InfluxDB v2
insomnia The API Design Platform and API Client.
insync Manage your Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox files straight from your Desktop.
irccloud-desktop IRCCloud desktop application.
jabref The efficient way to collect, organize & discover.
jami Share, freely and privately.
jellyfin The Free Software Media System.
kapacitor Open source framework for processing, monitoring, and alerting on time series data.
keepassxc Cross-Platform Password Manager.
keybase End-to-end encryption for things that matter. Secure messaging and file-sharing.
ksnip Cross-platform screenshot and annotation tool.
lsd The next gen 'ls' command.
ludo A minimalist frontend for emulators.
lutris Open Gaming Platform.
mailspring Boost your productivity and send better email with the best mail client.
mattermost-desktop Open Source platform for developer collaboration.
mergerfs A featureful union filesystem.
micro A modern and intuitive terminal-based text editor.
microsoft-edge-stable Fast and secure browser that helps you protect your data and save time and money.
minigalaxy A simple GOG client for Linux.
minikube minikube quickly sets up a local Kubernetes cluster on macOS, Linux, and Windows.
mpdevil A simple music browser for MPD.
ms-office-electron A Microsoft Office Online Desktop Client made with Electron.
nextcloud-desktop The self-hosted productivity platform that keeps you in control.
nordvpn VPN service for speed and security.
obs-cli OBS-cli is a command-line remote control for OBS.
obsidian A powerful knowledge base on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files.
obs-studio Free and open source software for video recording and live streaming.
ocenaudio Easy, fast and powerful audio editor.
onlyoffice-desktopeditors Free desktop office suite for document editing and collaboration.
openrazer-meta Open source driver and user-space daemon that allows you to manage Razer peripherals.
openrgb Open source RGB lighting control that doesn't depend on manufacturer software.
opera-stable Faster, safer and smarter than default browsers.
p3x-onenote A Linux compatible version of OneNote.
pandoc A universal document converter.
parsec Simple, low-latency game streaming.
peazip PeaZip is a free file archiver utility and extractor.
picocrypt A very small, very simple, yet very secure encryption tool.
plexmediaserver Stream Movies and TV Shows.
polychromatic Frontend for OpenRazer that enables Razer devices to control lighting effects and more.
portmaster Portmaster is a free and open-source application that puts you back in charge over all your computer's network connections.
powershell Cross-platform automation and configuration tool/framework and optimized for dealing with structured data.
protonvpn High-speed Swiss VPN that safeguards your privacy.
quickemu Quickly create and run optimised Windows, macOS and Linux desktop virtual machines.
quickgui A Flutter frontend for Quickemu.
rambox Workspace simplifier.
rclone Syncs your files to cloud storage.
resilio-sync Fast, reliable, and simple file sync and share solution, powered by P2P technology
rocketchat Official Desktop Client for Rocket.Chat.
rpi-imager Raspberry Pi Imaging Utility.
rstudio Professional software for data science teams.
rustdesk Open source virtual / remote desktop infrastructure for everyone!
sejda-desktop Easy, pleasant and productive PDF editor.
shutter-encoder Professional video, audio and image coversion and encoding tool.
signal-desktop Private Messenger.
simplenote The simplest way to keep notes.
skypeforlinux Stay connected with free video calls worldwide.
slack-desktop One platform for your team and your work.
softmaker-office-2021 Create impressive documents with ease.
spotify-client Millions of songs and podcasts.
strawberry Music player and music collection organizer aimed at music collectors and audiophiles.
sublime-merge Git Client, done Sublime.
sublime-text Text Editing, Done Right.
surfshark Award-winning VPN service.
syft CLI tool and library for generating a Software Bill of Materials from container images and filesystems.
syncthing Continuous file synchronization program.
system-monitoring-center Multi-featured system monitor.
tailscale Zero config VPN. Works on any device, manages firewall rules for you, and works from anywhere.
teams Team chat and collaboration.
teamviewer The Remote Desktop Software.
telegraf The plugin-driven server agent for collecting & reporting metrics.
terraform Automate Infrastructure on Any Cloud.
tidal-hifi Web version of listen.tidal.com running in Wlectron with hifi support thanks to widevine.
tixati A New and Powerful P2P System.
trivy A simple and comprehensive vulnerability/misconfiguration/secret scanner for containers and other artifacts.
ubuntu-make Easy setup of common tools for developers on Ubuntu.
ulauncher Application launcher for Linux.
vivaldi-stable The most feature-packaged, customisable browser.
vuescan Scanner Software that supports over 6500 scanners.
wavebox Rethink the Web. Productivity Browser.
webex Video Conferencing, Cloud Calling and Screen Sharing.
weechat The extensible chat client.
whalebird A Mastodon, Pleroma, and Misskey client for desktop application.
whatsapp-for-linux An unofficial WhatsApp desktop application for Linux.
wire-desktop Secure collaboration platform.
youtube-music Open source, cross-platform, unofficial YouTube Music Desktop App with built-in ad blocker and downloader.
yq A lightweight and portable command-line YAML processor.
zenith Sort of like 'top' or 'htop' but with zoom-able charts.
zettlr A Markdown Editor for the 21st century.
zoom Video Conferencing, Cloud Phone, Webinars, Chat, Virtual Events.
zotero A free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share research.

Legend

The icons above denote how deb-get installs/updates the packages.

  • apt repository
  • GitHub releases
  • Launchpad PPA
  • Website

How do package updates work?

3rd party apt repositories and PPAs

If packages are available via a 3rd party apt repository or a Launchpad PPA , then those packages will be updated/upgraded when using apt-get update and apt-get upgrade.

GitHub Releases and direct downloads

For .deb packages that are only available via GitHub Releases or direct download , then those packages can only be updated/upgrade by using deb-get update and deb-get upgrade.

Adding Software

Create a function in deb-get that is named deb_the-package-name where "the-package-name" is the Package: name shown using apt show. The deb_ prefix is required so deb-get can dynamically build the list of available software.

Take a look at the existing deb_ functions as reference for adding new packages to deb-get.

What is acceptable?

This defines what software that can be added to deb-get and therefore the scope of the project in terms if what it is intended for.

  • Software has to be published as a .deb. Build from source, tarballs or other binaries releases will not be accepted.
  • Software has to be published authoritatively by the upstream vendor, project or maintainer. Packages published by unassociated community contributors will not be accepted.
  • Software must be actively maintained.
  • Only stable/production releases. Daily/nightly, betas or pre-release versions will not be accepted.
  • GitHub Releases and direct downloads must have a reliable means to dynamically determine the current upstream published version. Hardcoded versions will be not accepted.
  • Packages from the official Debian or Ubuntu apt archives will not be accepted.

Related projects

  • App Outlet: A Universal linux app store
  • pacstall: The AUR alternative for Ubuntu
  • Ubuntu Make: Easy setup of common tools for developers on Ubuntu.
  • unsnap: Quickly migrate from using snap packages to flatpaks
  • makedeb: A simplicity-focused packaging tool for Debian archives

In the media