Software Installation Pains

[Fred Roller]

On Wed, 2009-08-05 at 01:28 -0500, Andrew Farris wrote:
> On Wed, 2009-08-05 at 10:50 -0600, Edwin McGuire wrote:
> [snip]
> > /media/DAD'S THUMB/Linux/Wine/wine-dbg_1.1.26~winehq1-1_i386.deb
> > If I Click on a file then package installer window opens then status
> > says 
> > 
> > "Error: Dependency is not satisfiable: wine (= 1.1.26~winehq1-1)"
> > 
> 
> You're getting this error on this package, because its a package of
> debugging symbols (i.e. to help developers debugging code), not the
> actual wine package itself.  hence why it complains about wine not being
> there.
> 
> > Plus same here.
> > 
> > /media/DAD'S THUMB/Linux/modem/wvdial_1.60.1+nmu2_i386.deb
> > 
> > "Error: Dependency is not satisfiable: libuniconf4.4"
> 
> ah... the gates to dependency hell.  Trying to install software like
> this generally isn't advisable, unless the packages are relatively
> self-contained (and you're sure of it), or you really enjoy doing things
> the hard way.  
> 
> easy solution? get your compy hooked up to the internet for a little
> bit, so you can install these programs from synaptic (and let it take
> care of the dependencies for you).  Or, you can order a set of
> repository disks from online someplace...which will also solve your
> issues if you don't have internet.  Unfortunately you'll have to hunt
> for that one, because I couldn't find any :( srry.  I know the install
> CD has /some/ packages on it, but it may not have all of what you need
> (to try anyway, add the cd as a repo source py poking it in the drive,
> go to "System > Administration > Software sources" and make sure it's
> listed under the 'installable from cd/dvd' section. if it is, then
> search in the package manager and try installing things...)
> 
> 
> hard-er way? go to http://packages.ubuntu.com/, search for the things
> you want to download, and check their dependency list (and subsequently
> download the packages that they depend on).  I think that when you try
> to install the packages you want(i.e. the ones you already have), it
> tells you which packages you need... unfortunately this isn't the end of
> the packages you actually do need in a lot of instances (hence the term
> dependency hell).
> 
> hope thats helpful
> 
> 
> -- 
> Andrew
> _____________________________
> Registered Linux User: 473690
> Registered Ubuntu User: 22747
> 
> 

Steve,
  Synaptic would be your best bet unless you have some other reason for
building from scratch.  Another solution, since you seem to be
restricted to the library internet, is to look into a personal mirror.

This is advanced, but would give you the repos without the internet.
You would be looking at about 25Gb +/- so may need to ask the library
about the bandwidth, but at least the way it works, you would be able to
build the mirror a bit at a time if necessary.

	sudo apt-get install apt-mirror

Here is a man page excerpt:

NAME
       apt-mirror - apt sources mirroring tool

SYNOPSIS
       apt-mirror [configfile]

DESCRIPTION
       A small and efficient tool that lets you mirror a part of or the
whole Debian GNU/Linux distribution or any other apt sources.

       Main features:
        * It uses a config similar to apts sources.list
        * It’s fully pool comply
        * It supports multithreaded downloading
        * It supports multiple architectures at the same time
        * It can automatically remove unneeded files
        * It works well on overloaded channel to internet
        * It never produces an inconsistent mirror including while
mirroring
        * It works on all POSIX complied systems with perl and wget


-- 
Fred R.
www.fwrgallery.com

"Life is like Linux - simple; if you are fighting it, you are doing
something wrong."