How best to install/upgrade software outside the official repo

[vrata]

I am looking to install kdenlive, the video editor from KDE and although it is available in the PureOS repo, the version is 2 major updates behind the official distribution. Version 20 is currently available to download on the kdenlive website while the repo has version 18 only.

What’s the best alternative to installing such an application on a Librem laptop?

• Flatpack - I have read some forum recommending it as the future of distribution.
• appimage - which is available to download from the kdenlive website, and as per my understanding is somewhat equivalent to the .exe file on Windows.
• ppa library - this is also maintained up to date for kdenlive.

I am tempted to use the ppa library as this has worked for other apps. However, I would like to hear anyone else’s recommendation/experience on the more general question of maintaining applications updated.

[spacemanspiffy]

I hear enough Linux Youtubers/LBRYians talk about Kdenlive’s stability issues and they usually say AppImage is the way to go. Based on that, I would say (for Kdenlive at least) you might want to do the same and look at the AppImages.

For any other programs, well, I guess it depends.

[vrata]

Kdenlive’s stability issues and they usually say AppImage is the way to go

that’s a good point, thanks

[Richard]

Just speaking in general, both Flatpak and Appimage are fine to use for apps from outside our repo. Adding a PPA though is asking for trouble from a support standpoint. You’re free to do it of course and if you have it within your means to fix something if it borks go ahead. For the average joe though I highly recommend against PPA’s.

One upside to Appimage is that it doesn’t taint GNOME Software by showing proprietary apps unlike Flatpak

[kieran]

the version is 2 major updates behind the official distribution

You might also look into whether this is a Debian problem or a PureOS problem.

Related to that, you should tell us whether you are using Amber or Byzantium.

[vrata]

thanks @Richard for the response. I am going to experiment with AppImage I think, the downaide means I have to do the upgrades manually, but the upside as pointed out @spacemanspiffy is that it works out of the box, and for something as complex as a video editor needing to import/export various video/audio formats, that’s one headache less.

You might also look into whether this is a Debian problem or a PureOS problem.

Related to that, you should tell us whether you are using Amber or Byzantium.

good point @kieran!

currently,

> lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	PureOS
Description:	PureOS
Release:	9.0
Codename:	amber

Not sure what is Byzantium ? a fork of Porteus Linux?

[Mand]

@vrata

Not sure what is Byzantium ?

See

2019 Year in Review: PureOS – Purism

and topics in this forum, e.g. the lengthy one Pureos rolling release

[vrata]

thanks. Now it makes total sense.

and topics in this forum, e.g. the lengthy one Pureos rolling release

skim reading through the lengthy thread, I see there are still some issues with certain libraries not updating properly.

[kieran]

I see there are still some issues with certain libraries not updating properly.

Yes. No way I would recommend changing from Amber to Byzantium just at the moment but it is possible that the version of your package is later in Byzantium than it is in Amber.

[vrata]

thanks for the heads-up @kieran, much appreciated. As for kdenlive, I went with the appImage on the desktop, so far so good!

[dA_gHoSt]

Hi Everyone,

Having a similar issue when trying to install a 3rd party program [BetaFlight Configurator]. there is a zip file which may as well be in Chinese to me and then there is a Filename.deb package. when i try to install it, it fails. Any ideas or suggestions as to how i tackle this. I am green when it comes to linux.

my thanks for your guidance in advance.

[kieran]

Download the .deb file
and install as demonstrated (for some other random package) here

How to download and run anything?

A .deb file it’s a Debian installer, you can use dpkg to install it. sudo dpkg -i /home/your user name here/Downloads/trezor-bridge_2.027_amd64.deb Insert your password and press enter. You can also, right click on it, select “open with another app” and choose “software installation?..” my system is in another language but should be something like that, and you will be able to install it from there.

Needless to say that there are security and trust issues in installing random packages from the internet.

If it fails to install, please post error messages.

The most likely errors are missing dependencies. There is no easy way to sort that out but a starting point would be to check with the web site where you downloaded the .deb file what the expected version of Debian (or other Linux distro) is.

[vrata]

BetaFlight Configurator

version 10.6 is the latest stable, download the betaflight-configurator_10.6.0_amd64.deb file and install it from the prompt (Terminal window),

> sudo apt install betaflight-configurator_10.6.0_amd64.deb

You may get some dependency warning/error messages, just to be on the safe side, run the following command,

`> sudo apt --fix-broken install’

this will further install any additional libraries that might be required to run your program.

am green when it comes to linux.

You may want to read this thread, Getting started with Debian GNU/Linux and Gnome as well as Setting up/configurign Librem PureOS laptop.

[dA_gHoSt]

(Reading database … 208042 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack …/betaflight-configurator_10.6.0_amd64.deb …
xdg-desktop-menu: No writable system menu directory found.
dpkg: warning: old betaflight-configurator package pre-removal script subprocess returned error exit status 3
dpkg: trying script from the new package instead …
xdg-desktop-menu: No writable system menu directory found.
dpkg: error processing archive /home/cypher/Downloads/betaflight-configurator_10.6.0_amd64.deb (–install):
new betaflight-configurator package pre-removal script subprocess returned error exit status 3
chown: cannot access ‘/opt/betaflight/betaflight-configurator’: No such file or directory
xdg-desktop-menu: file ‘/opt/betaflight/betaflight-configurator/betaflight-configurator.desktop’ does not exist
dpkg: error while cleaning up:
installed betaflight-configurator package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 2
Errors were encountered while processing:
/home/cypher/Downloads/betaflight-configurator_10.6.0_amd64.deb

1. Thank you for taking the time.
2. This is the message it returned.
3. I think I may have messed up my PureOS, do you think i should re-install. Start from scratch.

[dA_gHoSt]

Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
Note, selecting ‘betaflight-configurator’ instead of ‘/home/cypher/Downloads/betaflight-configurator_10.6.0_amd64.deb’
betaflight-configurator is already the newest version (10.6.0).
The following package was automatically installed and is no longer required:
purebrowser
Use ‘sudo apt autoremove’ to remove it.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 15 not upgraded.
1 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
Get:1 /home/cypher/Downloads/betaflight-configurator_10.6.0_amd64.deb betaflight-configurator amd64 10.6.0 [64.5 MB]
dpkg: error processing package betaflight-configurator (–configure):
package is in a very bad inconsistent state; you should
reinstall it before attempting configuration
Errors were encountered while processing:
betaflight-configurator
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
cypher@Beta:~$ sudo apt --fix-broken install’
E: Command line option --fix-broken is not understood in combination with the other options
cypher@Beta:~$ sudo apt --fix-broken install
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
E: The package betaflight-configurator needs to be reinstalled, but I can’t find an archive for it.

Thank you, Vrata. I tried your method also, and this is the message it returned above.

[kieran]

This is the message it returned.

Sorry but can you also show the command that you entered?

[dA_gHoSt]

I re-installed my computer while i was waiting

I used this command
sudo apt install /home/xxxxx/Downloads/betaflight-configurator_10.6.0_amd64.deb

then this
sudo apt --fix-broken install

I got this error message
dpkg: error processing package betaflight-configurator (–configure):
installed betaflight-configurator package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 3
Errors were encountered while processing:
betaflight-configurator
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

[Gavaudan]

I think it’s sudo apt install --fix-broken

Additionally, you might try sudo dpkg -i <name of package>

[dA_gHoSt]

This is the error message i am getting now, looks to be the same.

dpkg: error processing package betaflight-configurator (–configure):
installed betaflight-configurator package post-installation script subprocess returned error exit status 3
Errors were encountered while processing:
betaflight-configurator
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

[dA_gHoSt]

It is now installed, Thanks Kieran, Vrata and especially Gavaudan.