PPA search tool in Ubuntu

[Primefalcon]

You know there is another thread on these forums asking about Ubuntu needing more ppa's than ever (this is a complete seperate idea which is why it's a diferent thread), which has gotten me thinking.....

What if Ubuntu's software centre had an inbuilt ppa search tool to allow searching though the innumerable ppa's on Launchpad.... it'd really make adding additonal software that's not in the standard repo's on Ubuntu a breeze even for new users...

OK I just submitted this as an idea: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/29153/

[Dangertux]

You know there is another thread on these forums asking about Ubuntu needing more ppa's than ever (this is a complete seperate idea which is why it's a diferent thread), which has gotten me thinking.....

What if Ubuntu's software centre had an inbuilt ppa search tool to allow searching though the innumerable ppa's on Launchpad.... it'd really make adding additonal software that's not in the standard repo's on Ubuntu a breeze even for new users...

OK I just submitted this as an idea: http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/29153/

I think this is a very good idea. With one gotcha. PPA's would either have to be more regulated (not a good choice) or there would need to be a very obvious warning about the potential security implications and possibility for breakage associated with adding software from PPAs. If that were in place I think it would be awesome, and not go too far contradictory to "The software in our repos is safe" concept.

[mamamia88]

Great idea launchpad sucks to navigate imo

[Primefalcon]

The thing is it has got a lot of great ppa's in there most users are not going to find for a long time, which is a shame when you see new users asking how do I get x version of x software... it's not in the repo's

The problem is it's not somewhere most users will automatically look (software centre) and even if they do... most new users will go huh how do I add this.... (open command line and entering apt-add-repository is not really good for beginners IMO and the software sources gui isn't much better for a complete new user

[Dangertux]

The thing is it has got a lot of great ppa's in there most users are not going to find for a long time, which is a shame when you see new users asking how do I get x version of x software... it's not in the repo's

The problem is it's not somewhere most users will automatically look (software centre) and even if they do... most new users will go huh how do I add this.... (open command line and entering apt-add-repository is not really good for beginners IMO and the software sources gui isn't much better for a complete new user

Like I said, just don't brush aside the security implications of it. There is no centralized control over what goes in a PPA. Also, installing unsupported versions of packages can and often does lead to breakage. It's not a bad idea, but it needs a disclaimer that really shouldn't be downplayed. ESPECIALLY if you want this feature to cater to new users.

[Jesus_Valdez]

Maybe as an externsion or add-in of some kind but I don't think that is a good idea to put it by default.

[Primefalcon]

That could be solved by a dislaimer you agree to when you first lauch the ppa search tool in it perhaps?

[mips]

Something like Arch's AUR would be better imho. Everything is in one place.

[forrestcupp]

It seems like a long time ago there was some kind of 3rd party software or script that would let you choose from a big list of popular ones to automatically add. I forget what the software was; it was a few years ago, and unless it has been updated, it would be very obsolete.

It's a great idea to have something like that incorporated. I do agree that there would have to be some strong, very obtrusive warning and disclaimer, though.

[mörgæs]

Changed the title to a more informative one.

[grahammechanical]

How easy is it to get a ppa in Launchpad? Are you people really saying that installing a ppa from Launchpad is no different from installing a deb package downloaded from any old web site?

I do understand the disclaimers that Launchpad has in place and why Canonical would want to put some distance between itself and the software. But what is the point of having something like Launchpad if we cannot have even a small measure of trust in what is available through it?

Regards.

[jerrrys]

The thing is it has got a lot of great ppa's in there most users are not going to find for a long time, which is a shame when you see new users asking how do I get x version of x software... it's not in the repo's

The problem is it's not somewhere most users will automatically look (software centre) and even if they do... most new users will go huh how do I add this.... (open command line and entering apt-add-repository is not really good for beginners IMO and the software sources gui isn't much better for a complete new user

I like to see your list of little known PPA's. There has be lots of threads on little known ubuntu packages, but I don't recall one on little known PPA's.

[BrokenKingpin]

I think this is a great idea.

[castrojo]

it'd really make adding additonal software that's not in the standard repo's on Ubuntu a breeze even for new users...


If you find software in a PPA that isn't in Ubuntu ask the author to put it in the software center: http://developer.ubuntu.com/

We do have a centralized place for this, people just need to start submitting their applications to it.