I was about to stick these extra repositories into the Karmic Koala Review but thought “No, there are enough of them and they’re useful enough to put into their own little section.” so that’s what I’ve done here. I will update this list of repositories whenever I find a new one that’s worth adding to my sources.list.
First, a little about repositories
Software can be installed into Linux in one of two ways:
- Each program can be located and downloaded from the Internet or an external storage device and then installed in its own peculiar way; and
- Each program can be installed using a package manager which queries a locally stored list of items stacked with different software libraries called repositories. This list tells package managers where to find downloadable software.
Manually finding software over the Internet can be a long chore and increases the likelihood of picking up unwanted guests that might rape and pillage an operating system. Using a package manager to find and install software saves time and minimizes the risk of picking up viruses when the repositories it consults are trustworthy.
Different projects use different repositories to host their software which means we often need to add extra repositories to our package managers’ list of them. This list is called sources.list. The Ubuntu distributions store sources.list in /etc/apt/ and additional user added lists in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/(filename.list). If you want to see the content of your repository list then type kate /etc/apt/sources.list (Gnome users should use gedit instead of kate). You won’t be able to edit it unless you view it as root by typing kdesudo or gksudo in front of those commands e.g kdesudo kate /etc/apt/sources.list will open sources.list for editing.
Each repository has a security key (GPG key) associated with it that ensures package managers are aware that the software installed from a repository has been authenticated by the user who added it (that’ll be YOU, generally). Package managers alert a user who is about to install non-authenticated software and prompt for the user to confirm that the software should be installed.
There are two ways that you can add extra repositories to your sources.list:
- Copy the content of another machine’s sources.list and paste it over your own or merge them, as you see fit; and
- Add each extra repository and it’s GPG key individually using either the command line (Terminal) or your package manager’s built-in repository manager.
Here is a video demonstration of how to install a repository and GPG key using Synaptic. The repository came from here and the GPG key came from here (the whole contents of the page was copied into a text file which was then renamed gpgkey.gpg):
Copying and pasting another repository list is not ideal. Different Linux disros require different repositories and, as repositories provide a route into a machine, over-zealous copying of sources.lists from one machine to another could open the gate for malicious software to flood in.
Adding new repositories isn’t difficult and most software providers give good instructions. The easiest way to add a repository is to type or copy and paste a few commands into a Terminal as demonstrated in this next video. The repository used in the video came from here and the GPG key came from here. The actual code obtained from those links is:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/ppa/ubuntu karmic main
and
gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv 2836CB0A8AC93F7A
gpg --export --armor 2836CB0A8AC93F7A | sudo apt-key add -
Which I re-formatted to one line which can be entered into Terminal by a super user (type sudo su then the return key to become a super user), thus
echo deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/ppa/ubuntu karmic main >> /etc/apt/sources.list && gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv 2836CB0A8AC93F7A && gpg --export --armor 2836CB0A8AC93F7A | sudo apt-key add -
So, here, as promised, are those extra repositories. I’ve linked to the source website for each repository and provided a few links to some great sources for software that are not hosted in repositories.
Medibuntu
In their own words:
“Medibuntu (Multimedia, Entertainment & Distractions In Ubuntu) is a repository of packages that cannot be included into the Ubuntu distribution for legal reasons (copyright, license, patent, etc).”
This repository contains many of the multimedia codecs required to play patented and restricted formats.
The main site is here.
To add the repository to your own system (all *buntu flavours including 32 and 64 bit versions) copy and paste the following lines of code into Terminal (there’s no need to do them one at a time, just copy and paste the whole lot in one go):
sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/$(lsb_release -cs).list --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list sudo apt-get -q update sudo apt-get --yes -q --allow-unauthenticated install medibuntu-keyring sudo apt-get -q update
Use either your package manager or Terminal (using sudo apt-get install package) to install libdvdcss2 (for playing DVDs) and one of the following non-native codec packages. Choose one that is suitable for your computer’s architecture:
w32codecs for 32 bit machines,
w64codecs for 64 bit machines, or
ppc-codecs for power PCs.
Immediately after installing a Linux operating system I use Synaptic to browse for and install codecs and the appropriate “restricted extras” for the distribution. You might choose to do the same.
For a full list of the available packages visit here.
Ubuntu Studio
This one provides a lot of extra multimedia packages aimed specifically at multimedia enthusiasts. In the developers’ own words:
“We provide a suite of the best open-source applications available for multimedia creation. Completely free to use, modify and redistribute. Your only limitation is your imagination.”
The main site is here.
To add the repository to your Karmic Koala system copy and paste the following lines of code into your Terminal:
sudo su echo deb http://archive.ubuntustudio.org/ubuntustudio karmic main >> /etc/apt/sources.list wget -q http://archive.ubuntustudio.org/ubuntustudio.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add – sudo apt-get update
The GPG key might not work for all systems but the available packages will still be accessible through your package manager. An alternative GPG key can be obtained from here (a public keyserver). You can import it with these Terminal instructions:
gpg --keyserver keyserver.veridis.com --recv-keys 0x2D635AED gpg --export --armor 0x2D635AED | sudo apt-key add -
To add the repository to versions other than Karmic Koala (e.g Jaunty Jakalope) replace karmic with the other version’s title wherever it occurs in the above code (e.g replace karmic with lucid, jaunty or gutsy).
Once the Ubuntu Studio repository has been added you can install components from it either individually or by searching for “ubuntustudio” in Synaptic (or another package manager) and selecting to install all the media and audio packages in one go. Please be aware that you might need to reselect KDE as your desktop environment when you next log-in after installing the Ubuntu Studio packages – they have a habit of auto-selecting Gnome.
PlayOnLinux
This is THE compliment to anyone who uses Wine for running Windows programs on Linux. It provides a graphical interface from which Windws software can be selected and installed. For those wanting more information about this program I’ve written a mini-review of it here.
The home website can be found here.
To add the repository to Karmic just copy and paste these few lines into your Terminal:
sudo wget http://deb.playonlinux.com/playonlinux_karmic.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/playonlinux.list sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install playonlinux
Users of other versions of Linux should visit the download page for PlayOnLinux, here, to get the correct code for them.
VirtualBox
Provides the software required to install multiple operating systems onto one machine without the need to edit hard drive partitions or to duel boot. It does this by creating a virtual hardware environment onto which a guest operating system may be installed. The virtual environment is hosted by the real hardware and operating system; and the virtual environment provides the guest operating system access to the host operating system’s hardware without the guest being aware that it is being run within another environment. In the words of the developers:
“VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).”
I use VirtualBox in preference to Qemu and FAUmachine for most of my virtualiseation needs.
The home page for VirtualBox is here.
Copy and paste these lines of code into a Terminal to add the VirtualBox repository to Karmic Koala:
sudo su echo deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian karmic non-free >> /etc/apt/sources.list wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/sun_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add - sudo apt-get update
At this point in time the current version is VirtualBox 3.0 so install it with apt-get install virtualbox-3.0
Users of other Linux distributions should see the download page here for specific repository installation notes.
I recommend you visit the homepage to learn more about this program and its associated part called Guest Additions.
I’ve written a step-by-step text guide with video demonstrations to setting-up VirtualBox and adding shared media and drives. You can view it here.
IPList
Is similar to Moblock and Peerguardian – it helps defend a computer’s downloads from malicious or espying IP addresses. These type of programs are often used by well informed torrent users who need to protect themselves from copyright activists and government snooping. They’re not perfect so cannot be fully relied on. They work by checking the IP address of a download’s source against a blacklist of known mischievous IP addresses. When a blacklisted IP address is found the data it sends is dropped and the sender is unable to prove that a downloader is downloading restricted data.
The program’s homepage is here.
Karmic Koala users can add the repository, GPG key and package to their systems by copying and pasting the following lines of code into their Terminal (this is good for all versions of Karmic (64 and 32 bit versions as well):
sudo wget http://iplist.sf.net/sources.list.d/karmic.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/iplist.list sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com C6E3D905C8BCD56BB02E6E0B39456311108B243F sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install iplist
Users of other Linux distros should visit here to learn how to install it.
GetDeb
This is small repository of Linux applications and games that have been pre-packaged ready for installation into Ubuntu based systems. There’s a problem with their instructions for adding their GPG key via Terminal so the best way to add their repository is by visiting this page and following step one of their installation guide.
If you really want to use the Terminal method then the code is:
sudo su echo deb http://archive.getdeb.net/ubuntu karmic-getdeb apps >> /etc/apt/sources.list wget -q -O- http://archive.getdeb.net/getdeb-archive.key | sudo apt-key add - sudo apt-get update
GetDeb’s homepage can be found here.
SDLMAME & SDLMESS
These are the up-to-date and maintained versions of MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) and MESS (Multiple Emulator Super System). MAME is for playing arcade games on a PC whereas MESS is for running console and non-PC computer software (e.g Spectrum, Atari, Commodore). There are two repositories for these. The first one is specifically for SDLMAME for *ubuntu systems and the second one is for SDLMAME and SDLMESS on all Debian based operating systems (which includes the *ubuntu distros).
The Terminal commands for adding the *ubuntu Karmic Koala specific repository are (these do not install SDLMESS):
wget http://sdlmame4ubuntu.org/repoc/957AC3A6.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - sudo wget http://sdlmame4ubuntu.org/repoc/karmic.major.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d /sdlmame4ubuntu.major.list sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install sdlmame
Instructions for adding this repository to earlier versions of *ubuntu are available here.
That repository’s home page is here.
The second repository is aimed at all Debian based distros. At the time of writing this it provides access to an older version of SDLMAME than the above repository. I couldn’t install SDLMESS from this one but you might have better luck. The instructions listed here are for Debian Lenny and should be good for *buntu 8.04 to 9.10 (I think).
sudo su echo deb http://apt.ludomatic.fr lenny non-free >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ludomatic.list echo deb-src http://apt.ludomatic.fr lenny non-free >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ludomatic.list wget http://apt.ludomatic.fr/ludomatic.key.asc -O - | apt-key add - apt-get update apt-get install sdlmame sdlmess exit
The repository’s home page is here.
In case you want to compile SDLMESS and SDLMAME for yourself the official home and download page for them is here. Instructions for compiling them are here. Don’t worry that they both say they are for SDLMAME because the build instructions are the same for both SDLMESS and SDLMAME (hope that makes sense).
I had a lot of trouble getting SDLMESS to install on Kubuntu 9.10 for 64 bit processors. Here are the steps I took to get it to install. These instructions should work for most *ubuntu versions:
- Install the necessary development, header and dependency files using these Terminal commands:
- Download the SDLMESS zip file from here, unzip it and move it to /usr/share/games (see note below)
- Open a terminal in the folder that contains the source code (/usr/share/games/sdlmess-xxx)
- Compile SDLMESS using the appropriate one of these Terminal commands:
sudo apt-get install build-essential libsdl1.2-dev libgconf2-dev libexpat1-dev zlib1g-dev libxinerama-dev libgtk2.0-dev gcc-4.2 sudo apt-get build-dep sdlmame
- 64 bit systems
[email protected] [email protected] PTR64=1
[email protected] [email protected] PTR64=1 -j3
make -f makefile.sdl [email protected] [email protected]
make -f makefile.sdl [email protected] [email protected] -j3
Additional Software Sources
Apt Get is a database of unofficial repositories of Debian software. Be careful whenever you add new repositories to your system. Apt Get is available here.
Gna is a source for open source software. It is available here.
Sourceforge is a huge collection of Linux and non-Linux software. It can be accessed here.
Happy Penguin is a fantastic resource for locating Linux games. Access is this way.
KDE-Apps.org provides los of KDE application software. This way to enter.
KDE-Files.org has loads of plug-ins for applications. You can get to it through here.
Linux App Finder is another huge collection of Linux software. It can be accessed here.
Open Source Living provides links and reviews of some useful Linux and non-Linux software. It can be accessed here.
Opera is available from here.
Google Chrome (beta for Linux) is available here.
Flash for 64 bit systems is available from here.
Realplayer is available from here.
Key Server List
These are useful for finding GPG keys to authenticate software repositories when the software’s maintainer hasn’t explicitly stated his GPG key:
Additional Repository Guides
The Ubuntu Repository Installation Guide
The Ubuntu Guide (I highly recommend this)
This page will be updated often.
wpDiscuz