Re: [gNewSense-users] how to best backup my downloaded files?

[Kevin M. Dean]

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Here's an idea. I'll explain the concept first, and then a possible way
to do it.

Concept: Make your own apt repository on a CD. You can then add packages
as you see fit and transfer them across multpl machines, or archive it
later for on-demand updates without need for internet.

Possible execution:

First, download and install the dpkg development stuff.

apt-get install dpkg-dev

Next, make the repo directory. I'll assume that your user is called
"andrei".

mkdir -p /home/andrei/gnewsense-repo/dists/deltad/main/binary-i386

Then, put your .deb files in binary-i386. This means you'll have to
download them first, or use them from your apt-cache.

Now, change directories and generate the files you need to have a repo.

cd /home/andrei/gnewsense-repo

dpkg-scanpackages dists/deltad/main/binary-i386 /dev/null >Packages

This will (in theory) generate the files needed to apt-get packages from
here once you add this to your /etc/apt/source.list file.

If you then burn /home/andrei/gnewsense-repo to a CD, you should then be
able to pop this in, add the CD to your sources list (Synaptic also has
an "Add CD" option, I think) and apt-get from it.

The idea isn't exactly fleshed out, may contain errors. :D But I hope
it's a start. :D

- -Kevin

andrei raevsky wrote:
> Hi everybody,
> 
> I only have dial-up so each update or application downloads comes
> *very* slowly and I really would hate to have to do it all over again.
> Also - I would love to have the possibility to install gNewSense  1.1
> on another computer and just stick a CD in to add all the other
> applications previously downloaded.
> 
> Now, I know that my downloaded files are in /var/cache/apt/archives files.
> 
> Also - Paul kindly sent me the DVD of the full gNewSense  1.1 sources
> (along with a gNewSense 1.1 and a gNewSense-KDE 1.1) ==>>which, by the
> way, I am would gladly snailmail to anyone needing them<<==
> 
> So help me out here: which of the two should I use, the
> /var/cache/apt/archives archives which I could burn to a CD or the DVD
> of the sources and, even more importantly, *how* do I use them.
> 
> I thought of mixing external and internal sources (with a CD with
> /var/cache/apt/archives burned to it) but Paul warned me that it is a
> very bad idea to mix sources.  Is there any way to add either 1) the
> downloaded application after the first install of gNewSense or 2) how
> could I best use the gNewSense source archive DVD Paul sent me?  Or is
> there no safe way to do this and is it the *only* option to 'apt-get
> update && apt-get dist-upgrade'?
> 
> Many thanks for any help,
> 
> Andrei
> 
> 
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> http://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnewsense-users
> 

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