A few days ago I installed Devuan Daedalus in a VM and downloaded the TDE 14.1.3 mega package 'tde-trinity'.
I presumed that "mega" package downloaded everything TDE, but seems to be only individual packages split from the core package group. Missing from my effort are packages such as amarok, koffice, themes, etc.
I tried 'apt search trinity' but that is a messy output.
Next I tried 'apt-cache search trinity | grep -v 18n'. That produced a list of 786 packages. Clipping the output produces provided me only package names.
I shrugged, inhaled, and launched 'for pkg in $(apt-cache search trinity | grep -v i18n | sed 's| - .*||'); do apt install -y $pkg; done'.
Seemed to succeed but raised a simple question. Is there a short-hand method to download everything TDE?
On 4/25/25 9:23 AM, Darrell Anderson via tde-users wrote:
Seemed to succeed but raised a simple question. Is there a short-hand method to download everything TDE?
There might be a better way to do it, but if I wanted to download every Trinity package, I'd do 'apt-get install -d -trinity'. The -d switch means download only, don't install.
On 4/25/25 9:59 AM, Dan Youngquist via tde-users wrote:
'apt-get install -d -trinity'
...or maybe not. It seems the dash on '-trinity' causes apt to interpret it as a switch, so that dash needs to be removed. Of course the result won't be much different either way.
On 4/25/25 12:05 PM, Dan Youngquist via tde-users wrote:
On 4/25/25 9:59 AM, Dan Youngquist via tde-users wrote:
'apt-get install -d -trinity'
...or maybe not. It seems the dash on '-trinity' causes apt to interpret it as a switch, so that dash needs to be removed. Of course the result won't be much different either way.
Thanks.
I guess the point is not too important. I found a way to get what I needed so I can study build scripts. I just need to organize everything I downloaded.
One of the nice attributes of traditional computers -- they just do what they are told and offer no opinion about whether the method is efficient or smart. If only I had a 21st century internet connection....
Darrell Anderson via tde-users wrote:
I guess the point is not too important. I found a way to get what I needed so I can study build scripts. I just need to organize everything I downloaded.
One of the nice attributes of traditional computers -- they just do what they are told and offer no opinion about whether the method is efficient or smart. If only I had a 21st century internet connection....
11Mbit is not bad. Usually people do not understand that the server limits the bandwith and it does not require that much bandwith to have apt-get working. I have here 70Mbit 50down/20up but download is max @2Mbit (for debian packages)
Keep in mind that it is better to use apt-get install from the internet than dpkg -i from local system, because apt-get does verification of the package. I think indeed apt-mirror is the best or wget (recursive)
On 4/25/25 9:59 AM, Dan Youngquist via tde-users wrote:
There might be a better way to do it, but if I wanted to download every Trinity package, I'd do 'apt-get install -d -trinity'. The -d switch means download only, don't install.
Probably best to just ignore what I've said about this. I woke up very groggy today, and stayed that way long enough to type the above. Of course it won't work because apt-get needs a complete package name. Something along the same idea would work with synaptic, but would be rather cumbersome.
Here's the post from Slavek that Bill mentioned, responding to his request for the same info last year:
https://mail.trinitydesktop.org/mailman3/hyperkitty/list/users@trinitydeskto...
On 4/25/25 3:25 PM, Dan Youngquist via tde-users wrote:
Probably best to just ignore what I've said about this. I woke up very groggy today, and stayed that way long enough to type the above. Of course it won't work because apt-get needs a complete package name. Something along the same idea would work with synaptic, but would be rather cumbersome.
I can relate to groggy.
Here's the post from Slavek that Bill mentioned, responding to his request for the same info last year:
https://mail.trinitydesktop.org/mailman3/hyperkitty/list/users@trinitydeskto...
Ah. So add Yet Another Debian Command: apt-mirror. :)
On Friday 25 April 2025 13:25:58 Dan Youngquist via tde-users wrote:
On 4/25/25 9:59 AM, Dan Youngquist via tde-users wrote:
There might be a better way to do it, but if I wanted to download every Trinity package, I'd do 'apt-get install -d -trinity'. The -d switch means download only, don't install.
Probably best to just ignore what I've said about this. I woke up very groggy today, and stayed that way long enough to type the above. Of course it won't work because apt-get needs a complete package name. Something along the same idea would work with synaptic, but would be rather cumbersome.
Here's the post from Slavek that Bill mentioned, responding to his request for the same info last year:
https://mail.trinitydesktop.org/mailman3/hyperkitty/list/users@trinitydeskt op.org/message/NQDNOVE23RGEC4X6CN4ZYKURVHV4EJGW/
Thanks much! I don't know how you found it, but that will come in handy soon enough. I have been reorganizing my files, removing duplicates, and am about to get another external hard drive ... so I hope to be able to create that local repository for myself in the near future.
It used to be, aptoncd would do something like that; but for the past few releases (maybe after Jessie, I think?) it has been removed from the Debian/Devuan repositories.
It would be nice if developers got together somewhere and brought back aptoncd, a fork of it, or another tool that does more or less the same thing.
Bill
On 4/25/25 1:37 PM, William Morder via tde-users wrote:
Thanks much! I don't know how you found it, but that will come in handy soon enough.
I used the search box at the top of the mailing list archive. :)
It would be nice if developers got together somewhere and brought back aptoncd, a fork of it, or another tool that does more or less the same thing.
https://aptoncd.sourceforge.net/index.html
I've never used it, but it looks like it can easily grab an entire repository.
On Friday 25 April 2025 14:07:15 Dan Youngquist via tde-users wrote:
On 4/25/25 1:37 PM, William Morder via tde-users wrote:
Thanks much! I don't know how you found it, but that will come in handy soon enough.
I used the search box at the top of the mailing list archive. :)
Yeah, so did I; then I discovered what was the problem. All my emails are missing for about an entire year. I believe that I have them all somewhere or other, as I regularly back up my system to an external hard drive; but at the moment, all that extra load is in storage, as I am paring down my life for travel, backpacking, bicycling, and using only a minimum of modern transport like buses and trains sometimes.
It would be nice if developers got together somewhere and brought back aptoncd, a fork of it, or another tool that does more or less the same thing.
https://aptoncd.sourceforge.net/index.html
I've never used it, but it looks like it can easily grab an entire repository.
Cool. I didn't find it in the usual places, but I didn't think to look on SourceForge ... although I have got a lot of other packages from there over the years.
Thanks.
Bill
On Friday 25 April 2025 14:50:22 William Morder wrote:
On Friday 25 April 2025 14:07:15 Dan Youngquist via tde-users wrote:
On 4/25/25 1:37 PM, William Morder via tde-users wrote:
It would be nice if developers got together somewhere and brought back aptoncd, a fork of it, or another tool that does more or less the same thing.
https://aptoncd.sourceforge.net/index.html
I've never used it, but it looks like it can easily grab an entire repository.
Cool. I didn't find it in the usual places, but I didn't think to look on SourceForge ... although I have got a lot of other packages from there over the years.
Thanks.
Bill
P.S. Update on that link. The sourceforge download link is dead, although I did find an archived version of the same, to wit: https://web.archive.org/web/20240322040655/https://downloads.sourceforge.net... Likewise, there is an archived version of the source: https://web.archive.org/web/20240322040658/https://downloads.sourceforge.net...
I suspect that this package may be too old to run on currently-supported Devuan or Debian-type systems. (It's supposed to run on the 'Buntus, as well, hence the "all" in the package name.) It requires dependencies from systems at least as old as the Debian/Devuan Jessie releases, or its equivalent in Ubuntu. It may be possible to get it running by compiling from source.
Can't find it anywhere in Debian, not even in archived packages, but maybe I didn't search hard enough. However, it does still exist in Devuan's archives: https://packages.debian.org/index https://pkginfo.devuan.org/cgi-bin/policy-query.html https://pkginfo.devuan.org/cgi-bin/package-query.html?c=package&q=aptonc... http://archive.devuan.org/merged/pool/DEBIAN/main/a/aptoncd/aptoncd_0.1.98+b...
Like I said, this is a very handy tool. It would be nice if somebody out there with the expertise could fork it. It may be that a Slackware user can get it working, though, so this may be relevant to some readers.
Bill
On 4/25/25 6:06 PM, William Morder via tde-users wrote:
I suspect that this package may be too old to run on currently-supported Devuan or Debian-type systems. (It's supposed to run on the 'Buntus, as well, hence the "all" in the package name.) It requires dependencies from systems at least as old as the Debian/Devuan Jessie releases, or its equivalent in Ubuntu. It may be possible to get it running by compiling from source.
Like I said, this is a very handy tool. It would be nice if somebody out there with the expertise could fork it. It may be that a Slackware user can get it working, though, so this may be relevant to some readers.
Looks like a Python tool. So some Python nerd might be able to help.
Since the tool is discontinued my first wild guess is the tool requires Python 2. Python 2 no longer is cool ya know. :)
On Friday 25 April 2025 09:23:27 Darrell Anderson via tde-users wrote:
A few days ago I installed Devuan Daedalus in a VM and downloaded the TDE 14.1.3 mega package 'tde-trinity'.
I presumed that "mega" package downloaded everything TDE, but seems to be only individual packages split from the core package group. Missing from my effort are packages such as amarok, koffice, themes, etc.
I tried 'apt search trinity' but that is a messy output.
Next I tried 'apt-cache search trinity | grep -v 18n'. That produced a list of 786 packages. Clipping the output produces provided me only package names.
I shrugged, inhaled, and launched 'for pkg in $(apt-cache search trinity
| grep -v i18n | sed 's| - .*||'); do apt install -y $pkg; done'.
Seemed to succeed but raised a simple question. Is there a short-hand method to download everything TDE?
I asked a similar question a long while back; I wanted to download all the TDE packages (for Devuan, specific to my system) in the repositories, so that I could save them for myself, for those times when I find myself stranded without internet, yet need to reinstall and perhaps rebuild my system.
Slavek kindly responded with a command for aptitude that would do the trick. I have tried to adapt this to apt-get, but haven't had much time or resources to finish the job; that is, to create my own local repositories on an external hard drive. Then I use dpkg to install.
Just now I tried searching Kmail for the thread, but can't find it. My next thought would be to search for all of Slavek's posts, but that would be searching for the needle in the hay.
Perhaps we can beg Slavek to provide us with that command once more? both aptitude and apt-get commands would be much appreciated.
Bill
On 4/25/25 2:38 PM, William Morder via tde-users wrote:
I asked a similar question a long while back; I wanted to download all the TDE packages (for Devuan, specific to my system) in the repositories, so that I could save them for myself, for those times when I find myself stranded without internet, yet need to reinstall and perhaps rebuild my system.
Slavek kindly responded with a command for aptitude that would do the trick. I have tried to adapt this to apt-get, but haven't had much time or resources to finish the job; that is, to create my own local repositories on an external hard drive. Then I use dpkg to install.
Just now I tried searching Kmail for the thread, but can't find it. My next thought would be to search for all of Slavek's posts, but that would be searching for the needle in the hay.
Perhaps we can beg Slavek to provide us with that command once more? both aptitude and apt-get commands would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
As I moments ago replied to Dan, probably is a moot point now because pretty or not, I now have what I need.
I did notice in my online search for an answer that the Debian tools apt, apt-get, apt-src, apt-cache, aptitude, etc. all differ sufficiently to be confusing to somebody not keeping pace with the so-called "Debian way."
I don't plan to use Debian/Devuan as my daily system. I only wanted a way to study all of the packages because that never has been done before with Slackware. Now that (I think) I have everything downloaded, including source packages, I can study and hopefully remedy the Slackware situation.
If only I had a 21st century internet connection. I think altogether all of the downloads took three or more hours....
On Friday 25 April 2025 12:48:48 Darrell Anderson via tde-users wrote:
Perhaps we can beg Slavek to provide us with that command once more? both aptitude and apt-get commands would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
As I moments ago replied to Dan, probably is a moot point now because pretty or not, I now have what I need.
<snip>
If only I had a 21st century internet connection. I think altogether all of the downloads took three or more hours....
Myself, if I must choose what I want most, I would prefer control over my machines, myself, my connection, etc.
I have a pretty fast connection (sometimes 2 mbps or more), but it comes with the place, so I am not the network admin. For the past 7 or 8 years we have had the same wifi password, which is only 8 characters long, all alphanumeric, all caps or numbers, living in an area that is already saturated with technology and ubergeeks.
I feel sure that every script kiddie within range has already cracked our password. During the day, the network is often unusable for hours on end; at night it is usually better. Even so, my system often comes to a complete halt for 5 minutes or more, often for more than an hour, and I can do nothing but reboot and lose my work.
Sometimes, after waiting for what seems an eternity longer and more excruciating than the philosophers and theologians could ever imagine, I am at last abruptly disconnected from the network. At other times, I manually disconnect from the network using iwconfig, but tdenetworkmanager shows that I am still connected ... until at last the icon shows me offline.
There are worse things than having a slow connection; for example, having no control over your connection.
Bill
On 4/25/25 3:16 PM, William Morder via tde-users wrote:
I have a pretty fast connection (sometimes 2 mbps or more), but it comes with
Well, if you consider 2 Mbps fast then I guess I should STFU. I have a "gleeful" 11 Mbps down. ISP is fixed wireless. Birds fart or, soon in the next few weeks, leaves grow on the trees, and the speed here will get erratic.
There are spools and spools of fiber cable down at the edge of town some miles away, a project that started in this general area two years ago. Some folks have been fortunate to get connected and now have 1 Gbps symmetrical. I can only hope my literal neck of the woods is on their install list this summer or next.
Rumor control is Trump and Musk are trying to quash all rural fiber projects so Mush can coerce rural users to install the expensive Starlink, which many people seem to fail to realize is Yet Another Fixed Wireless plan. Actually somewhat worse, the satellites are moving. I don't know if the rumor is reliable but these days anything like that is almost believable.
Not to mention that the dish requires something like a 150 degree open perimeter to function correctly, which in my case means a lot of trees have to be cut. I've been cutting (mostly dead) trees as a sacrifice to the firewood burning gods for many years, but the amount of work involved to create that perimeter is not worth the cost of the expensive Starlink. Not to mention that managing the Starlink equipment requires a smart phone and -- drum roll -- an app. Seems some off-the-shelf router vendors are going down this road too -- no configuration without a data mining and tracking app. Thankfully there are router solutions like OpenWRT.
There are worse things than having a slow connection; for example, having no control over your connection.
Not that bad here, but not by much. With fixed wireless ISP, when the grid power in this area goes bye-bye -- happened only a couple of weeks ago for four hours, the tower I am connected to has a UPS that lasts exactly one hour. Then poof no internet. Being in a cell phone dead zone that means no VOIP either. I have to travel about a mile in either direction to have any reliable hope of using my little flip phone.
But I live in the woods for a reason -- much of the time I get along fine without the mad mass of humanity. And being an only child for almost five years I long ago learned to entertain myself without help.
Thing is, the ISP owner thinks a couple of megabits per second is more than enough for anybody (sound familiar 640 KB of RAM?) and does not want to invest in faster equipment. Of course, as owner he allots max speeds to his house. I know this because I once worked there.
On Friday 25 April 2025 14:02:30 Darrell Anderson via tde-users wrote:
On 4/25/25 3:16 PM, William Morder via tde-users wrote:
I have a pretty fast connection (sometimes 2 mbps or more), but it comes with
Well, if you consider 2 Mbps fast then I guess I should STFU. I have a "gleeful" 11 Mbps down. ISP is fixed wireless. Birds fart or, soon in the next few weeks, leaves grow on the trees, and the speed here will get erratic.
Not fast in comparison to others, just faster than what I have been used to in the not-so-distant past.
I don't stream video, etc.; the only streaming I do is for some internet radio. Otherwise, I download some old-timey music shows, grab some digital books at archive.org, read a couple of online news sources. I don't need much
As an only child for all of my life, I got used to doing things on my own. Also, I grew up with Amish neighbors, in an area where most people still don't have cellular service or wifi. I like having internet for some things; but I didn't even get online until 2001, and the sheen of wonder had already worn off within a couple years. Again, I don't need much.
Rumor control is Trump and Musk are trying to quash all rural fiber projects so Mush can coerce rural users to install the expensive Starlink, which many people seem to fail to realize is Yet Another Fixed Wireless plan.
Yeah, and I just came across a couple more webpages that say they are trying not only to defund libraries and museums, but indeed to shut them down altogether ... again, so that all our sources of information will be privatized, and we can only get books, music, information, culture, etc. by subscription.
And some people wonder why I am always buying used books. Or, Why do I bother listening to ordinary OTA radio, when the internet has EVERYTHING!?
There are worse things than having a slow connection; for example, having no control over your connection.
Not that bad here, but not by much. With fixed wireless ISP, when the grid power in this area goes bye-bye -- happened only a couple of weeks ago for four hours, the tower I am connected to has a UPS that lasts exactly one hour. Then poof no internet. Being in a cell phone dead zone that means no VOIP either. I have to travel about a mile in either direction to have any reliable hope of using my little flip phone.
But I live in the woods for a reason -- much of the time I get along fine without the mad mass of humanity. And being an only child for almost five years I long ago learned to entertain myself without help.
I am looking myself for such a place, far enough away from civilization not to be bothered by all that's going on. I am too old to care; I won't live long enough to see how this turns out. I have a satellite dish in storage, which I intend to repurpose somehow or other to get internet. I don't need much.
If there are any others like myself out there, they might want to check out a place online called C. Crane. I don't have any connection to this place, by the way, except that I like their stuff, and have bought a fair lot of their stuff over the years.
https://ccrane.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Crane_Company
This is where I got myself some nice radios; one with shortwave, and a solar windup BT emergency radio, as well as a nifty little pocket radio. Over the past 30 years or so, I've got several other gadgets from them: a long-range wifi antenna, other radios, some accessories and parts. They are also very good about returns, repairs and replacements; although I've only ever returned one item, no hassles at all.
Sometimes I need weather information or news, and an internet connection just isn't there. Shortwave, weather, air and other channels are nice to have, if due to some disaster or other unforeseen chaos everything goes down. It's almost impossible to shut down *all* radio signals, especially if one has shortwave, ham, and other channels available.
Over the years I've amassed quite a library, too; and the availability of digital books has only convinced me more than ever that I really prefer the physical book to hold in my hands. These machines offer too many distractions, or often just interfere with the very communication and access to information that they are supposed to facilitate. So I will just keep buying used books, then eventually find my hermit's abode in the wilderness. Sort of like Ted Kaczynski's cabin, only bigger, and without the bombs and that stuff. I just want to be left alone to live my life. I don't need much.
It seems that there are more than a few of us here on the TDE mailing list who either live in fairly remote areas, or who spend a lot of time in such places, or who just dream about living somewhere like that. I am all of those, sometimes.
;-)
Bill
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Dan Youngquist -
Darrell Anderson -
deloptes -
William Morder