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3. Downloading packages from the repository

3.1 Binary packages

You can install or upgrade a binary package with the apt-get install package-name and apt-get upgrade package-name commands.

3.2 Source packages - source only.

You can obtain the current version of a source package with the apt-get source package-name command. This unpacks the source package, but does not attempt to compile it.

3.3 Source packages - compilation

You can obtain, and compile, the current version of a source package with the apt-get source --compile package-name command. For this to do something useful, you will want to specify meaningful options in the /etc/apt/apt.conf files.

For instance, the following option tells the system to compile and build the binary package(s), but not to sign the changelog. (The -rfakeroot option allows me to compile packages as an unprivileged user.)

/etc/apt/apt.conf
DPkg::Build-Options "-rfakeroot -b -uc";

This option tells the system to compile and build the binary package(s), and to sign them with my GPG/PGP key. This requires me to provide my passphrase for each source package downloaded and compiled.

/etc/apt/apt.conf
DPkg::Build-Options "-rfakeroot -b -m'Bear Giles <bgiles@coyotesong.com>'";

Finally, a "compilation server" can set up to compile and sign packages with a passphrase-less GPG/PGP key.

/etc/apt/apt.conf
DPkg::Build-Options "-rfakeroot -b -m'Compiler <cserver@coyotesong.com>'";


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