Install extra packages on the Asus Eee PC
Monday, August 18, 2008 01:36 PM
Xandros repositories make it easier to install extra packages on the Eee PC if you want more software than the average user.
While the Asus Eee PC and the Xandros distribution that ships with it come with enough software for the average person, some users will eventually want to install other software.
The Eee PC does not make this particularly easy, but because it comes with a light Xandros install, it is simple to set up Xandros repositories to provide extra packages to install.
To begin with, open a terminal by pressing CTRL-ALT-t (there is no shortcut icon for the terminal).
Once the terminal is open, edit the /etc/apt/sources.list file by executing sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list; (vim is also available if you prefer).
When the file is open, navigate to the end of the file and add the following lines to it:
deb http://xnv4.xandros.com/xs2.0/upkg-srv2 etch main contrib non-free
deb http://dccamirror.xandros.com/dccri/ dccri-3.0 main
deb http://www.geekconnection.org/ xandros4 main
deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/eeepcrepos/ p701 main etch
Save the file and exit.
Next, create the /etc/apt/preferences file and edit it. Because multiple extra repositories have been added, care must be taken that if there are any duplicate versions of the same software, the Xandros-supplied ones will always come first. This is accomplished by using "pinning", which will indicate to apt which repositories take higher preference than others. Add the following to /etc/apt/preferences:
Package: *
Pin: origin update.eeepc.asus.com
Pin-Priority: 950
Package: *
Pin: origin
Pin-Priority: 925
Package: *
Pin: origin xnv4.xandros.com
Pin-Priority: 900
Package: *
Pin: origin dccamirror.xandros.com
Pin-Priority: 850
Package: *
Pin: origin www.geekconnection.org
Pin-Priority: 750
Package: *
Pin: release a=stable
Pin-Priority: 700
Package: *
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-Priority: 650
Package: *
Pin: release a=unstable
Pin-Priority: 600
Now use apt to update the repository metadata:
$ sudo apt-get update
Once this is done you can use apt to install software that does not come with the default Xandros OS. For instance, to install the text editor joe, use:
$ sudo apt-get install joe
Apt also allows you to see what dependencies may be pulled in when you attempt to install packages by performing a dry-run install transaction. This is very good idea to keep from getting a system full of dependencies you did not expect. This can be done by adding the -s argument to the apt-get command:
$ sudo apt-get -s install joe
Getting new packages installed onto the Asus Eee PC is not difficult, and the setup is required only once. From this point forward, any application built for Xandros or third-party applications compiled specifically for the Eee PC are now available. You can also use this to upgrade packages that were previously installed on the Eee PC, by doing:
$ sudo apt-get -s dist-upgrade
This will provide a list of available packages to upgrade. Omit the -s option to perform the actual package upgrades.
I've done this. So what?
The purchase of an Eeepc 900 was the first time my wife and I had used Linux. Quite frankly we are horrified by the unfinished nature of the OS for the consumer market.
I carried out the instruction s given. When I ran apt-get update I got a 'GPG' error because no public key was available for the tuxfamily and xnv4 repositories. Does this matter?
When I tried to list the packages available the list scrolled rapidly off the terminal screen so I could not do this.
All I want to do is to be able to update applications such Open Office 3 and Firefox. Can it really be this difficult?
Posted by anonymous on Tuesday, December 23 2008 07:33 PM