APT: how to dwnld already debs...

[churasco <churasco@penguinpowered.com>]

howdie, this must be a simple faq... but haven't found it in any documentation:

How to do you ask apt-get to download all the .deb files necessary for a
given package, if that package is already installed on your machine? I've
tried "apt-get -d install SOME-PACKAGE" but it works only for those
packages which are not yet installed on my machine. For those packages that
are already installed, it just tells me they are installed...

Here is the more detailed scenario: I have two machines, an officeMachine
and a homeMachine. officeMachine is connected to the net and has debian
installed. homeMachine is not connected to the net (and has no cd-rom), and
has no debian (yet). The two machines share files through zip disks. The
goal is thus to dwnld packages (X11, gnome, etc.)  with officeMachine, put
them on a zip, and install at home.

Short of making a mini-mirror of ftp.debian.org on my hd/zip, it has been a
no-go for the moment...

thanks! churrasco