[Bug 997371] [NEW] Create command to add "multiverse" and "-backports" to apt sources

[Launchpad Bug Tracker]

You have been subscribed to a public bug:

Based on a discussion at UDS-Q a simple command is desired to be able to
add/enable "multiverse" and/or "-backports" in the apt repositories on a
system.

Background:  Right now, it is trivial to add a PPA to the apt sources
using the apt-add-repository command.  For example, I can tell somebody
on IRC/email/blog to run these commands:

    sudo apt-add-repository ppa:awstools-dev/awstools && 
    sudo apt-get update && 
    sudo apt-get install elbcli

Presto! They have the correct package installed and this works on a
number of different Ubuntu releases.

Unfortunately, it is much more common to point people to the more
popular "multiverse" (and occasionally "-backports") sections of the
standard apt repositories, but it is much more difficult to describe how
to enable these.

For example, to install the ec2-api-tools currently available in
multiverse, I have to provide non-standard and confusing instructions
like:

    # Enable "multiverse" in your apt sources using something like
    sudo perl -pi -e \
      'next if /-backports/; s/^# (deb.* multiverse)$/$1/'   /etc/apt/sources.list
    # unless you're on an older version of Ubuntu which has a different sources.list
    # format, in which case you might need to use something like:
    sudo perl -pi -e 's%(universe)$%$1 multiverse%' /etc/apt/sources.list
    # then
    sudo apt-get update &&
    sudo apt-get install ec2-api-tools

I would much rather be able to simply say something like:

    sudo apt-add-source multiverse &&
    sudo apt-get update &&
    sudo apt-get install ec2-api-tools

(I don't care about the name of the tool.  I just want it to be easy to
provide in instructions.)

In addition to "multiverse" it would be nice to support "-backports" and
perhaps "partner".

Ideally, this would be available for all active Ubuntu releases, but
getting it in going forward would be a good start.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: apt 0.8.16~exp12ubuntu10
ProcVersionSignature: User Name 3.2.0-23.36-virtual 3.2.14
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-23-virtual x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu5
Architecture: amd64
Date: Wed May  9 21:50:13 2012
Ec2AMI: ami-a29943cb
Ec2AMIManifest: (unknown)
Ec2AvailabilityZone: us-east-1a
Ec2InstanceType: m1.small
Ec2Kernel: aki-825ea7eb
Ec2Ramdisk: unavailable
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: apt
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

** Affects: apt (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: amd64 apport-bug ec2-images precise
-- 
Create command to add "multiverse" and "-backports" to apt sources
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/997371
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Foundations Bugs, which is subscribed to apt in Ubuntu.