linux software repositories ?

[sam111]

I have used alot of different linux distro's over the years.
I have also installed many different software applications with yum , apt-get , aptitude , synaptic ,pacman ,...etc

Depending on the linux distro they all have a default standard repositories to get their software when using yum ,apt-get ,...etc etc.

For instance in ubuntu uses cat /etc/apt/sources.list gives these default repositories ( these are the ones that you get for nothing i.e no added repos)

# deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty main restricted

# deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty-updates main restricted
# deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty-security main restricted

# See http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UpgradeNotes for how to upgrade to
# newer versions of the distribution.
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty main restricted
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty main restricted

## Major bug fix updates produced after the final release of the
## distribution.
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty-updates main restricted
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty-updates main restricted

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team. Also, please note that software in universe WILL NOT receive any
## review or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty universe
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty universe
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty-updates universe
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty-updates universe

## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu 
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to 
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in 
## multiverse WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu
## security team.
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty multiverse
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty multiverse
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty-updates multiverse
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty-updates multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'backports'
## repository.
## N.B. software from this repository may not have been tested as
## extensively as that contained in the main release, although it includes
## newer versions of some applications which may provide useful features.
## Also, please note that software in backports WILL NOT receive any review
## or updates from the Ubuntu security team.
# deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty-backports main restricted universe multiverse
# deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty-backports main restricted universe multiverse

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty-security multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty-security multiverse

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Canonical's
## 'partner' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by Canonical and the
## respective vendors as a service to Ubuntu users.
# deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu natty partner
# deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu natty partner

## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from Ubuntu's
## 'extras' repository.
## This software is not part of Ubuntu, but is offered by third-party
## developers who want to ship their latest software.
# deb http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty main
# deb-src http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu natty main
deb http://www.geekconnection.org/remastersys/repository karmic/

But in gentoo they have a totally different default repo.
And for redhat they have a totally different default repo.

How every much of the same software can be downloaded for each of these repo's

Questions
1) can you use any repo with any distro to install software?
For example can I always add a repo for gentoo to use ubuntu repo and have it work fine. Or is the repo and the software it contains specific to the linux distro.
2) When would one need to create their own repo for their distro?
It just seems much of the same software is contained in different linux repos?
3) Is their away to get a list of all possible (or at least all major software repo's in existances for linux/linux applications )

[scathefire]

1) Its adviseable that you use repositories for your own distro. While there are some exceptions with the Red Hat-type systems (Fedora, Red Hat, CentOS), using another distribution's repository can have ill-side effects, like the death of your machine.

[oz]

Questions
1) can you use any repo with an distro to install software?
For example can I always add a repo for gentoo to use ubuntu repo and have it work fine. Or is the repo and the software it contains specific to the linux distro.
2) When would one need to create their own repo for their distro?
It just seems much of the same software is contained in different linux repos?
3) Is their away to get a list of all possible (or at least all major software repo's in existances )

1) no, each major distro has packages in their repos that were created for their distribution, although some distros are closely related enough that packages from another distro will sometimes work
2) end users don't generally create distribution repositories, although a person could create their own personal repo
3) so far as I know, there is no database containing all the different repos that are available to end users, but you could always create such a database

[scathefire]

As far as a list of repositories, you should just google search for your particular distribution.

[sam111]

you guys said that repos are basically specific to the linux distro you have.
But what happens to the people that create their own linux distro or livecd must they create / host their own repo for it? Or can they just use ubuntu , redhat , centos ,...etc repos.

I guess my other question is what distros have their own different repos. Like I doubt kubuntu has a different repo then ubuntu they probably use the same repo because the only real difference is KDE and Gnome desktop managers ...

Also what would fail in using a different repo to install application software for a distro provided the software repo was for the same arch.
I would think different repos would not work only if the arch was different or the kernel was configured totally different?
Like coreutils in redhat is the same as coreutils for ubuntu , or even unix based os's

Plus the whole point of a package manager is to resolve dependencies and install software cann't see how this would fail.

[scathefire]

Sure some software may be the same, but some packages (beit debian or redhat type) can have completely different dependencies between distributions or sometimes between repositories as well.

In package managed systems, this type of things can lead to over-stepping. Especially the more repositories you add into the mix.

[sam111]

Sure some software may be the same, but some packages (beit debian or redhat type) can have completely different dependencies between distributions or sometimes between repositories as well.

In package managed systems, this type of things can lead to over-stepping. Especially the more repositories you add into the mix.

Even if you use alien to convert between the rpm or deb packages?

[oz]

If you want software that you can install on any distro, you can always install from source but doing that comes with other problems.

[sam111]

well won't you just run into the dependency problem for all but the most trivial of software.
so in reality this is just as bad

[oz]

Yes, dependencies can become a nightmare and some packages can be difficult to fully remove, but they should work on any distribution if that's more important to you.