Re: Bug#331528: ITP: debinstaller -- a graphical frontend for installing local .deb packages

["Joe Smith" <unknown_kev_cat@hotmail.com>]

> I wonder why nobody did implement that feature before. I imagine
> (without knowing much about APT's internals), the pseudocode would look
> like that:
>
> - install command gets the list
> - if the package does not exist in the cache and the given string is a
>   file, then:
>   - read the metadata of this package
>   - creating a virtual sources set containing that package and inject
>    it somewhere in APTs graph representation. The access method
>     would be "file:", and it should get the highest possible priority
>     (at least higher than any seen priority)
>   - install the prerequisites and then the package with the usual
>    methods
>   fi

would it not be simpler to have have apt just ask dpkg what the dependencies 
of the passed .deb are and then install the dependencies (and their 
dependecies) and then just pass the deb directly to dpkg?

I see no need to create a virtual sources set or worry about priorities as 
the next time the apt is run the package will be seen as 'obsolete or 
locally created' (unless it exists in the repository), and therefore would 
use whatever priority apt gives such packages. But then again this might be 
too mutch of a kluge.