Ubuntu Wiki

• Launchpad entry: https://features.launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/multiple-package-installation

• Packages affected:

Summary

Currently, manually installing software using deb files often requires downloading and installing multiple packages, which should be avoided. It would be ideal to use develop a special format using a tar.gz file (or similar) for the archive that contains the deb packages as well as a file that tells the installation program what order to install the packages, as well as other useful information.

Rationale

Use cases

• Brad wants to install the free NX server from http://www.nomachine.com. He downloads the main server package, and discovers he needs another package. He downloads that and discovers he needs another one. He wishes there was an easier way to install it.

• Sharon is a new Linux user and wants to install Democracy Player from http://www.getdemocracy.com. She is confused and wonders why she needs to download and install two packages to get one program. She thinks it would make more sense to have a single download.

• David wants to install Inkscape from http://www.inkscape.org, but doesn't have internet. He is rather annoyed from going to a computer that has internet to download a package each time he finds out he is missing a dependency.

Scope

Design

Implementation

Code

Data preservation and migration

Unresolved issues

BoF agenda and discussion

CategorySpec