What Is Safest Working Place to Get Approved Software For The L5

Software PureOS
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What Is Safest Working Place to Get Approved Software For The L5 excluding the L5 desktop PureOS Store link.

~s

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The Purism repo, using the apt command, on your phone.

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And then join a Linux language club and learn how to use the micro-screen to get a list of software, then jump back here and search and google the site to see if it is safe, and workable.

I don’t think so. No one should have to become a Linux grade user to install something, anything that will make this -thing- in to a remote semblance of the info that sold me on buying it.

If Puri can’t make the link on the desktop work, and the only means is to take a course in basic Linux there is no other place get approved L5 software then maybe they want to revisit their sales gunk and correct all the misleading info there.

  1. What is a “Purism repo”?

  2. Do we just type “apt” and we’ll get a list?

  3. “on your phone”. Why not YOUR phone since everything works for you.

Seriously, do you think everyone would want to buy one of these devices and can’t wait for as Linux pill?

I’ll edit my OP.
~ :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:

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Given the requirements for “safe” and “working” I believe my answer stands. I am not asking you to like my answer.

(The Store GUI app doesn’t work for me much of the time either. So not everything works for me.)

The phone will arrive out of the box configured to access the Purism repo and only the Purism repo. So it knows how to find the Purism repo, with no action required on your part, and that’s all that really matters.

Typical exploration might be

apt search xyz

where xyz is some string that might occur in the description of the package, which string reflects what you are interested in. So, for example, if you need to use an SFTP client, you might enter

apt search sftp

You can do a more limited search i.e. search solely within the package name, with

apt list '*xyz*'

Because if you go ahead and

sudo apt install zzzpackage

where zzzpackage is the name of the package then it will install it on the computer where you run that command. So if you want to use that package on your phone then you would want it installed on your phone, and so that’s where you need to run the command. You also need to do the apt search xyz (and the corresponding list command) on your phone, so that it shows you what packages are available to the phone that might be relevant. If you ran the command elsewhere (e.g. on a desktop) then it might show you packages that, while relevant, are not available to the phone.

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Purism hosts software in a few repositories, which is essentially a database.

No, arguments need to be passed afterwards in order for the command to successfully work. For example, you can use this command to display available arguments, along with additional description:

sudo apt --help
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Example:

To see if there are any Tetris-like games in the software repository:

apt search tetris

That returns a list of package names and short summaries that fit that description. Not all of them will run well on the mobile screen, so it will be necessary to install and try them.

Or first check the full description at https://software.pureos.net/categories to see if it is compatible with mobile screens. (Many packages are compatible even if they haven’t yet been labeled as such, though.)

Or wait for the PureOS Software app on the L5 to finally become operational.

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Is the goal approved software or the safest working place?

Since the approved software angle has been suggested above; for the safest working place I would suggest a small business, sole proprietorship, with yourself as proprietor.

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The part on the L5 when looking at the desktop and at the bottom it says “Show Only Mobile Friendly Apps” means if I tap that, the ones that disappear are not “Mobile Friendly Apps”?

@irvinewade OK. But what matter to me is knowing if the ones that disappear - are they not mobile friendly?

(SIDEBAR)
I was just doing some looking around about Uninstalling unwanted programs.

In case some other struggling ‘noob’ is looking how to uninstall, though I’m sure there’s lots more coverage on that topic, this is my addition.

May We Delete, Remove or Uninstall Apps? or the following

is Googles step by step to Uninstall

To uninstall an application in PureOS, you can use the PureOS Store application. Navigate to the “Installed” tab, locate the app you wish to remove, and press the delete button next to it. Confirm your choice to uninstall the application.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

  1. Open PureOS Store:
    Launch the PureOS Store application, which is used for managing applications.
  2. Go to Installed Apps:
    Switch to the “Installed” tab within the PureOS Store.
  3. Locate the App:
    Find the application you want to uninstall from the list of installed applications.
  4. Click Uninstall:
    Press the delete button (often a trash can icon) next to the application’s name.
  5. Confirm Uninstall:
    A prompt will appear asking for confirmation. Press “Remove” to proceed with the uninstallation.
  6. (Optional) Update Applications:
    It’s recommended to keep your applications updated. You can check for updates in the “Updates” tab of the PureOS Store.

:warning: I read several cautions about how uninstalling can remove things it shouldn’t so, IMO, user beware - it’s how and what you uninstall that could cause a problem.

One should also keep notes around with some data, packet name perhaps about the installed program. There may come a day you want to uninstall or remove it.
Programs that were not installed using the PureOS Store icon on the L5, should be removed by the method they were installed. To do that I suggest reading Irvine’s post by clicking here or view the post below:

Details of Irvines Post

If you installed at the shell with

apt install package

then uninstall at the shell with

apt remove package

(remove software but keep any related system configuration or settings)

or

apt purge package

(remove software and related system configuration or settings)

~s

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Both. A safe working place refers to a website or internal link and unlike desktop PureOS Store link, is working (i.e. can read main categories and the sub categories.

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It would seem, in summary, that there is no safe place to install PureOS compatible programs from. Not even the PureOS store if works again.

Pomp and circumstance might sell, but it catches up eventually.

Most expensive paper weight I ever bought.

~s

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Unfortunately the graphical application to install software, which has the name PureOS Store is not very reliable, and it sometimes keep loading or has other issues. PureOS Store is basically a fork of GNOME Software. The PureOS Store is based on an older version of GNOME Software, because Byzantium (the current version of PureOS) is not based on the latest version of Debian. Newer versions of GNOME Software are more reliable and stable, but this issue is still open. With upgrades to newer versions of PureOS Store (like in the upcoming Crimson version of PureOS) things will get better, but not perfect yet.

PureOS Store uses in the background apt. Therefore, also I think that using apt works best. It is very well tested and very reliable. Unfortunately, for people not so familiar with the Linux command line it might be a bit difficult to use.

For updating, I do this on the command line:

sudo apt update

The command above will refresh the repository information on your Librem 5. It will take a while, because it downloads information. At the end it states whether there are updates or not.

If there are updates, you can run this command to install the updates:

sudo apt full-upgrade

Earlier replies in this thread provide details on how to use apt to search for new software and to install it. In general, I would advice to always first make sure your system is fully up-to-date with the commands given above, before installing new software.

As a side note, which probably would require a whole new forum discussion (and there have been discussions about this in this forum): you could use flatpak to get relative new and up-to-date versions of certain software. I use flatpak also from the command line.

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and

Yes. I do that after some time has passed. The only notification to do either comes in to “Notifications” - make a note to do it in a week or so. Such things always look good on paper and developers devices, until the error reports come in.

Yes. But that means giving up on using a GUI and search through flatpak - I mean come on. Really! More reading. Read, read read - that’s the answer to so many questions. No one should have to go through that. If Puri was honest, they’d re-do their ad-hype to add a easy to see caveat that Linux command line are necessary to get any use out of this.

By the way. I do read. When ever I can find a doc here that has L5 info, and the other on PureOS, I read. Unfortunately, a lot of that stuff is too old, incomplete, and speak Linux. A language I didn’t and don’t want to learn. But, I have been criticized for not wanting help because I don’t read. Mind readers say that.

I was gifted a Samsung Galaxy Tab A8. I never have to do all this. My tenant has a Samsung Galaxy S28 phone. He doesn’t have this grief.
I did not register on the S8 Tablet. But I used it enough to know it’s OS is complete, save for patches, fixes, updates, upgrades etcetera. But it’s like Windows. Don’t need to school in the language, don’t need to run and fix anything every day and their ads, like Purism ads, show it ready to go out of the box. But huge difference between the professionals device over the L5.

IMO. The L5 is a great idea and should be a number 1 seller. But for the time it’s been around, the hype should do more than make promises and sales pitches they can’t keep.

Thanks for your input janvlug. I appreciate it. While replying to you, I booted up my desktop with PureOS on it. There are updates. 1 for OS and 12 updates. Simple - nope. Even that doesn’t work right either.

~s

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7 posts were split to a new topic: Sudo apt tangent

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Haha. If Puri approves the software, then it is the safest place to get approved software. No?

This topic went to netherworld really fast. Simple question. Since the “PureOS Shop” desktop link still doesn’t work for some people (categories don’t show anything), is there another safe place?

I received a link that goes to the same place software.pureos.net but it has a proper landing page with categories that are loaded with, I assume, safe software.

I saw, in passing, chatter about “flatpaks”. The discussion suggested flatpaks are not so nice. The summary I came to.

So far, the only working link here to safe-to-use software is in a forum post - that I could find.

I’ve been working on that - and found the problem with icon link. I don’t have the access needed to fix. Anyway, NMJ and BMP.

Have a good one,
~s

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I believe typing sudo apt upgrade in terminal will have the desired affect, it will ask for your password though.

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Done that a number of times before and after the catastrophe. Phone has had a reinstall of Byzantium, been to shop on a RMA.
~s

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