Ubuntu AppUpdate

[Ryan Oram]

I'm looking at setting up a update service for Ubuntu Lucid called
"Ubuntu AppUpdate". Developers would notify the team of their app
updates and we would push them to our repo. It will be similar to
GetDeb, but it will be based around Launchpad and PPAs and would have
more extensive testing.

I realize that Ubuntu is already taking steps towards this in
Maverick, but it may take them a few releases to get the process right
due to reservations about updating applications between releases. The
AppUpdate PPA would provide a way for Ubuntu Lucid users (or users of
any Ubuntu derivative) to get the latest tested versions of their
applications in the meantime.

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How it would work:

Developers would notify the AppUpdate team via the mailing list about
their package update, and a member of the team will push it to the
"testing" repository. If it is pushed to "testing" and no major
problems appear after at least a week, it will be pushed to "stable"
and all users with the PPA will be notified of the update.

All packages must be uploaded to a Launchpad PPA before they will be
considered to be included in the Ubuntu AppUpdate PPA.

Note: Keep in mind, this applies to applications like Firefox, Deluge
and MPlayer, *not* the kernel, core libraries and the desktop
environment. Packages that need core library updates will not be
accepted.

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Testing info:

I would like to invite you guys to try out Ubuntu AppUpdate. I have
uploaded packages from around 20 PPAs into the AppUpdate Testing PPA.
They should all work, but I would like to give them a rundown before
they are pushed to the Stable PPA. If you have any suggestions for
PPAs or packages, let me know.

If you would like to try it out, add the Ubuntu AppUpdate PPAs to your
sources via the following commands:

# sudo add-apt-repository ppa:infinity-team/appupdate-stable
# sudo add-apt-repository ppa:infinity-team/appupdate-testing

If you have any problems with any of the packages, post the issue on
the Ubuntu AppUpdate mailing list/forum (
http://tinyurl.com/ubuntu-appupdate ). The package will be promptly
removed from the repositories.

Thanks,
Ryan

PS If you would like to join the team and help out, feel free to send
me an email.