What is a repository? and other noobness

[braveally]

I'm anxiously awaiting the delivery of my N810. I got it from CompUPlus.com for $398. Anyway, I've been looking through trying to assimilate as much information as possible. One thing I don't understand is installing programs and what the Repository is for. i see on maemo.org and other sites have an "install now" button, but i'm also hearing that you need repositories for some programs or they won't install/work. Can someone help me understand what these are for? Is it like drivers for windows or something? What purpose do they serve? Obviously i'm new to linux and plan on getting comfortable through this little device. I just don't want to brick it being too curious (long history of bricked devices while trying to push the limits). Thanks!

[traveller604]

Think of them as FTP servers that have lots of programs that you can install to your device. Only there are no .exe files but instead after you add the url of that ftp server to your application manager you can install the software you're looking for thru it.

[GeraldKo]

Well, you'll find the repositories here: http://www.gronmayer.com/it/index.php?lang=en&system=maemo4

You check off and add the ones you want. Then you can install any of the files/programs contained in them through the App Mgr. Once you have your 810 this will make more sense.

[jussik]

One thing I don't understand is installing programs and what the Repository is for.

The answers you have gotten don't really give the repository system the credit it needs, IMO. A repository alone may be a glorified FTP server, but combined with other elements of package handling it's way more. In my opinion package handling is one area where linux is far ahead the more popular OSes -- this is also why many people do not understand it: they're used to an inferior system...

Repositories (the servers with installable packages), and the package manager (called Application Manager in the tablets) enable these things:

easy installation (no more searching for software on seedy corners of the web)
security (software comes from fewer sources so it's easier to make sure the sources are trustworthy)
easy upgrades (you don't have to check if a new version is available, the package manager will let you know -- and this covers all installed applications)
more security (developers can push security fixes out quickly)
more easiness (just one UI for installing and removing things)

In the future the whole OS may be upgradable to the next version using the package manager (this is what normal linux distros do already).

[krisse]

braveally, my take on this is the following:

Computer applications often need lots of supporting files for them to work properly. If you install an application from a repository, it will make sure that you also get all of the supporting files that the application needs.

It's a bit like buying a computer on its own, or from a computer shop. If you buy a computer on its own it may not have all the accessories it needs to run properly, but if you buy it from a computer shop they will make sure you have all the required accessories before you take it out of the shop.

[TA-t3]

In addition to jussik's list I would add

When an application depends on other applications or libraries to be pre-installed (or it won't work), the repository system + application manager will automatically resolve the dependencies and download and install the required additional items. To do this by hand (as you would, if you just downloaded from a normal old-fashioned ftp site) is a lot more work and can be tricky.

[free]

Packages contains the executable and a fileinfo (description, dependencies to other packages,..)


1)A repository is an an index file hosted on a server

2)This index references packages hosted on the same server

3) To find a package, your package manager will look in all indexes files and access the corresponding repository hosting the package. Then it will do 1) then 2)

4) For packages that need dependencies (libraries for example), go to 3). It's recursive.

Ah well, I tried :)