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I want to test Sidux in Dual-Boot! Cause it is Debianoid a question popped up: Is ist possible to use PPAs in Sidux, too?

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closed as off topic by Marco Ceppi Jan 26 '12 at 18:15


3 Answers 3

up vote 10 down vote accepted

No. Some packages may work, however there is a good probability that a package may not work on sidux (or more specifically Debian sid).

This is not just because of dependency issues. Dependency issues are easily resolved by creating dummy packages and installing the correct packages yourself. Further, a great deal of the packages are Debian packages recompiled unmodified on Ubuntu -- all packages with version numbers that don't end in -0ubuntu1 or more generally -XubuntuY. IIRC, greater than 75% of packages in Ubuntu are unmodified. Clearly dependencies aren't such a huge issue.

Binary compatibility is something you should be more afraid of. Ubuntu is not always binary compatible with Debian. It maybe at times, it may not at other times. Packages on Launchpad PPAs are complied in a clean root Ubuntu environment not Debian. Should it be that at the given time the two are not binary compatible, the package will break on your computer.

So, here's the best way to do this (although not the quickest). Install pbuilder. Add the PPA's source repository to your software sources. Download the source package using apt-get source foobar and then run sudo pbuilder build foobar-1.2.3-0ubuntu4ppa5.dsc. (Please save yourself some time and use tab auto-completion, don't try to remember which version was downloaded). This will build the package from source and give you a binary compatible (since you compiled it on your own machine) .deb that you can install available in /var/cache/pbuilder/result/.

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Technically yes. The PPAs use the same format as normal apt respositories so you'd be fine in that respect.

The problem comes with dependencies. If packages have different names, you're not going to be able to fulfil some deps without pulling more and more Ubuntu packages in.

As Sidux is debian-based, not Ubuntu-based, there's a good chance you'll run into a problem. Add the repo and load up aptitude and see what the deal is. As long as you don't try installing anything, you won't break anything by doing this.

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Hey i have made an automated script to add ppa's to debian system's


do check and suggest any corrections if required.

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