r/debian • u/Serious_Champion_599 • 1d ago

Whats the best repo to install modern packages when needed?

I use flatpak for apps that I need to keep modern like my browser and steam but I like the stability of the system itself that's why I use debian

But I don't know what to use for dev packages and things that aren't apps in general Ive heard about nix and brew but I don't know which one to choose or if there is better alternatives

18 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

24

u/AnEgoCom 1d ago

Use backports

10

u/aspensmonster 1d ago

And if backports doesn't have it, then use extrepo to enable a repo that does have what you're looking for.

4

u/ElSasori69 1d ago

I wonder why not more software uses extrepo

1

u/indvs3 Debian Testing 11h ago

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your remark, but I would say, because extrepo is a debian thing.

It's just a debian-maintained list of external repositories plus a small cmdline utility to add those repositories to your sources files and manage or remove them without making silly errors that are harder to troubleshoot.

1

u/ElSasori69 8h ago

Yeah but a lot of software use ppa that it’s exclusive to Ubuntu and Ubuntu based, while extrepo is compatible with Debian, Debian based, Ubuntu and Ubuntu based

8

u/SmallTimeMiner_XNV 1d ago

I'd look at backports first, far easier than another package manager. For stuff you can't find in there, give Distrobox a try. You can make e.g. an Arch or Fedora container and install anything you want in it with full access to your home directory - works for both terminal apps and GUI apps, very easy to set up and maintain.

6

u/B1ph 1d ago

For development i highly recommend Distrobox, that software is like magic.

6

u/LordAnchemis 1d ago

Backports or flatpak

5

u/Brilliant_Sound_5565 1d ago

Back ports first, but it's a smaller collection of software on that you might find what you are looking for, then after that I just use a flatpak

3

u/retr00two 20h ago
  • backports
  • extrepo

cover all my needs

2

u/Scotty_Bravo 22h ago

I use backports for most things.

For steam I use Flatpak. It's got latest libs for graphics.

For dev packages? What kind of dev? I like using containers for developing so that I have repeatable builds that ate unpolluted by my system and also don't pollute my system.

1

u/Rude_Influence 11h ago

I use the stable repos. I use flatpak for a couple of additional gui packages installed as user. I want them seperate from my Debian base. I don't use backports. If I wanted something more extensive, I'd just use a different distribution. Nothing wrong with backports. Just not how I envision my system is all.

1

u/SnooCookies1995 6h ago

I used brew always

1

u/_Sgt-Pepper_ 4h ago

I installed steam from apt. It auto updates anyway.

For vscode , chrome, Vivaldi, Nvidia, and Claude I use the apt repositories of the vendors ...

I don't really see a use case for other package managers for my requirements...