Feature suggestion
I would like to suggest a feature for inclusion in Synaptic and possibly
(probably?) in APT.
The feature would be an option for installing a single package directly
from a downloaded file, whether the file is a .deb, a tar.gz, or a
source.tar.gz, by browsing to the file and selecting it. Then perform
an 'Apply' selection and the highlighted file would be installed and
configured immediately. An icon on the toolbar would be desirable. In
APT, I think it would be a separate option for the apt-get command, and
the complete path and full file name would probably be required, rather
than just the package name.
This would be particularly attractive to newbies (like myself) and to
folks in a hurry (a sysadmin applying a security patch?), for whatever
reason, as there would be no need to prepare a Packages.gz file first.
Something that, to me, seems like a waste of time for one or two
packages, which was the situation I found myself in earlier today. It
would also be very helpful for those packages where an upgrade or patch
is available, and a .deb is not yet available, for those who do not know
how to create a .deb (like me). This way, Synaptic and APT would know
the correct version number for future upgrade purposes.
I am not a programmer yet, although I have an understanding of the
process. I believe that this would be a relatively simple addition, as
the majority of the programming could be copied directly from (or passed
to) the current 'Apply' and 'install' processes. The major differences
would be not selecting from the repositories in the sources.list file,
and performing the install and configuration directly, without reference
to the Packages.gz file. Determining and clearing dependencies for the
tar.gz and source.tar.gz files, and compiling the source files may be
more problematic.
I would appreciate a reply to this message, indicating (at least)
whether you will consider this recommendation. If you do this as a
patch, I would sincerely appreciate a notification, and a link to the
location of the patch, when it's done.
I also included a less thorough version of this suggestion in a message
to the maintainer of the APT HOWTO, with a request that it be forwarded
to you. This message was sent earlier today. So you may get this
suggestion twice.
Thank you
Chuck Percy
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