Getting Software with Apt-Get Print this HowTo

A short tutorial on how to get APT running on JDS2003 so you can easily pull in pacakages from a SUSES 8.1 repository.

Download these files ...

apt-0.5.5cnc6-rb2.i386.rpm
apt-libs-0.5.5cnc6-rb2.i386.rpm
lua-5.0-rb1.i386.rpm

from the repository at ... ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/suse/apt/SuSE/8.1-i386/RPMS.suse r-rbos

Install the files. Apt installs with a sources.list which points you to a few SUSE 8.1 repositories, not a JDS repository. So exercise caution. If you do a dist-upgrade, you will trample your JDS installation. The idea is to maintain JDS as the core, and layer on top of it the additional packages you want. What is needed is a JDS repository which does not have the Sun specific files included. There is some danger that this won't work without modifying the SUSE 8.1 packages. Some SUSE 8.1 packages may conflict with Sun's packages, likely a case by case adventure.

To get functional with the base SUSE 8.1 packages and the contributed packages in these repositories, locate this line in the /etc/apt/sources.list file
rpm ftp://mirrors.mathematik.uni-bielefeld.de/pub/linux/suse/apt SuSE/8.1-i386 update security
... and change it to read like this
rpm ftp://mirrors.mathematik.uni-bielefeld.de/pub/linux/suse/apt SuSE/8.1-i386 base update security

After installing apt you have a bifurcated installation. The core, which should remain Sun, and the packages you add with apt-get.

Using apt-get, you should be able to do package adds like,
apt-get update
apt-get install sudo
apt-get install gftp
apt-get install xmms
If these commands work, then everything is functioning.

CAUTION. If you do an dist-upgrade using apt-get you will render defunct your Sun JDS install.

tb