Re: Can aptitude be used to install non-free and contrib things?

[A Debian User <debian@openmailbox.org>]

Yes, it can.

So can apt and synaptic.

These tools rely on the /etc/apt/sources.list file to point them to servers where they can download the software you want.

Here's an example of an entry in sources.list:

deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian wheezy main
deb-src http://ftp.debian.org/debian wheezy main

So, for example, if you want to add the contrib and non-free repositories, you need to append them to "deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian wheezy main".

Like so:

deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian wheezy main contrib non-free
deb-src http://ftp.debian.org/debian wheezy main contrib non-free

It would be a good idea to do the same for the other Debian entries, such as http://security.debian.org/.

If you don't want to dabble with text files, in the menu of Synaptic Package Manager, go to Settings > Repositories > Debian Software tab. Tick the checkboxes next to the following entries:

DFSG-compatible Software with Non-Free Dependencies (contrib)
Non-DFSG-compatible Software (non-free)

Caveat: In general, it is a bad idea to use proprietary software, so think again if you really need to do this.

Cheers!

On Thursday, 08 May, 2014 12:28 PM, Charles Blair wrote:

   I'm sorry, I don't see anything in the documentation about this.

   If aptitude cannot be used, what am I supposed to do?