Connecting to a repository of a different derivative!
 

Bodhi being a minimalist distro, I think it would be a great idea if we can connect to repositories of different Ubuntu derivatives. Technically, this should be possible because all derivatives are binary compatible with Ubuntu (?). I would like to know if it is rightaway possible/feasible. If yes, is there a howto for this. If no, why not. Can it be made possible?

Thanks and regards,
Vishwanath

luxpro, You can do it, but it's not advisable. I once did a dist-upgrade of knoppix to debian-unstable and had to reinstall the system.
Connecting to the repositories is done in two easy steps:
1. edit the /etc/apt/sources.list file and add the repository you want
2. start the command "apt-get update" to load package information from the repository.
After that you can freely install anything you want from the new repository

Even if the repositories may be binary-compatible (they don't have to be) you can run into dependency-hell, if you are mixing repositories. As said before, it is not recommended.
By the way, I think you are not getting the concept of a minimalist distro. It means that the system is minimal (in the term of using hardware ressources) after installation, but the Ubuntu repositories are already enabled in Bodhi, so feel free to install what you like.

Public key for repository of different distro!
 

I wanted to do it for two reasons - one I thought all derivative distros shall be binary compatible. two - some derivatives have packaged some "interesting" software that no one else has. So I thought an easy way of getting hold of such not widely available packages is to point to the repository and click?!

It may not just be safe or even advisable to do a dist-upgrade but gypping a package or two should not cause problems?? Except for dependancy-hell cited by another user below.

The two step process was tried but I could not make it through the repository security; where/how is the public key for a repository obtained without having to download the entire ISO?
Thanks again!

Take a call on dependency hell on a case to case basis
 

I'll just talk about point two now - Thanks! I got the idea of a minimalist distro but I thought we could extend Bodhi's idea by actually connecting to repositories of different derivatives (may be even back to Ubuntu). Some Ubuntu derived distros host packages of software not seen in any other distro. E.g look up ESUN linux.

As for the dependancy hell issue I think we can take a call on case to case basis.

Thanks.

It is somewhat laughable, but you can get the key from the repo itself in the most cases.

Problem here is, it may work for the two packages you installed now, but if you only install them and then disable the added repository, where will you get your security updates from? And if you leave it enabled, may be the change dependencies in the future without you noticing it, and that can definitely break your system.

Simple advice: At first, search for repos that are approved to work with your distro. If you can't find the program you need, you have two options:
1. Package the program yourself. Others may benefit from that also, don't forget the community spirit.
2. Use a repo from a different distro, but do that only if you really know what you are doing.
3. Simply compile from source, but be aware that your package-manager will have no knowledge of programs installed that way.