have "deb http://... " details; want to 'apt-add-repository' not manual edit

SaintDanBert · 07-30-2015, 10:40 AM

I have the instructions and details to manually edit lines into my /etc/apt/sources.list file(s). It involves two lines 'deb http://... stable main' and 'deb-src http://... stable main'
I'd prefer to avoid a manual edit of the sources.list file and to use 'apt-add-repository' instead. Is there some way to do that with these deb-list details, or is apt-add-repository limited to ppa-based repositories?

Thanks,
~~~ 0;-Dan

fatmac · 07-30-2015, 12:51 PM

You can use echo or cat to add/append them to your sources.list.
Make sure you use >> & not >, (which would overwrite the file).

(Always safest to make a backup copy before changing it if your are not too confident.)

xuhdev · 07-30-2015, 11:37 PM

Or add a new file with those lines in sources.list.d so your original one would not be messed.

ondoho · 07-31-2015, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaintDanBert

I'd prefer to avoid a manual edit of the sources.list file and to use 'apt-add-repository' instead. Is there some way to do that with these deb-list details, or is apt-add-repository limited to ppa-based repositories?

do you use debian or ubuntu?

sgosnell · 07-31-2015, 07:09 PM

His profile says Mint. Thus almost Ubuntu.

descendant_command · 07-31-2015, 08:14 PM

What's hard about pasting the lines into the file?

SaintDanBert · 08-03-2015, 02:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xuhdev

Or add a new file with those lines in sources.list.d so your original one would not be messed.

DOH!!

I always forget about this method.
I guess its because all of the deb-line articles tell you to edit /etc/apt/sources.list. Ah, the curse of Linux (grin) too many choices... so little time ...

Thanks,
~~~ 0;-Dan

SaintDanBert · 08-03-2015, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by descendant_command

What's hard about pasting the lines into the file?

Loose connections between the chair and the keyboard...

You're right, though, not hard (grin) unless you are an EMACS guy...
~~~ 0;-Dan

SaintDanBert · 08-03-2015, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho

do you use debian or ubuntu?

Like the man says, I'm running Linux Mint 17.2 which is based on the 14.04 LTS Ubuntu.

Also, I think that I've learned:

The entries in /etc/apt/sources.list name various repository locations.
*.deb files get fetched from a repository.
a PPA is a special sort of repository.
apt-add-repository expects to interact with a thoroughbred PPA not simply a pile-of-files URL.

Cheers,
~~~ 0;-Dan

ondoho · 08-04-2015, 04:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaintDanBert

apt-add-repository expects to interact with a thoroughbred PPA not simply a pile-of-files URL.

strange, since debian uses apt, too (but not ppas).
the command is not present on my debian system.
at least i'd have expected the command to be called apt-add-ppa, if it's ppa (and thus ubuntu) specific.
but yeah, i guess that's ubuntus way of doing things.