Install from Deb

[David Fletcher]

On Thu, 2021-04-08 at 18:33 +0100, Ian Bruntlett wrote:
> 
> I hadn't heard of gdebi so I am pleased you mentioned it (btw it,
> itself, needs to be installed - at least on my Ubuntu 20.04.2). 

I believe both gdebi and aptitude are default installed with Mint which
I got used to using years ago, probably to get access to the Mate
desktop which works nicely with this little Toshiba NB520 but also
because the adduser utility has the --encrypt-home switch included
which I always use with the laptop. That however is off topic.


> If I download a .deb file, I would tend to use:-
> sudo dpkg -i file_name_of_package.deb

I got into the habit of using wget because it just seems neater and
perhaps cooler to get the web browser I want to use without using the
web browser I don't want to use to get it!

I only use gdebi very rarely, to install chrome when setting up a fresh
OS, but for me it "just works", sorting out the dependencies and
setting everything up properly.

Again off topic, the other gem that I'm seriously impressed with is the
Brother installer script for printers and scanners. I only mention it
while talking installers because it makes quick and easy the job that
I've previously spent days fighting with CUPS and things.


> Would dpkg work with installing a .deb file just as well as the gdebi
> command?

No idea! Once I've found something that works I look no further.

Dave