How should we port installed packages between MX19 and MX21?

[Huckleberry Finn]

... their user-installed packages ...

"Packages-installed-by-me.txt"


Edit: Noticed just now that the link was already posted on #5 :)

[Stevo]

How are you going to install python2? It is no longer in the Debian repos.

It's still there in all Debians, just not that it's the default python any longer: https://packages.debian.org/search?keyw ... ection=all

I wouldn't be able to build Pale Moon without it.

It's the python2-gtk packages that have been removed in favor of the gir1 type stuff that has replaced them.

[Stevo]

sending qalculate-gtk 3.22 up to MX 19 and MX 21 test repo--works fine in my own install on MX 21, but use caution for MX 19 and check first if it will remove any packages.

[figueroa]

@manyroads
Re: "old .cpnfig file toye the application names"
Do you mean old .config? Where do you find those application names? Lots of applications leave no footprints in .config.

[asqwerth]

Some have their configs in $HOME/.local/share or its various subfolders.

and other applications just have their dot files or folders in the parent folder of your $HOME. (eg Firefox's is in $HOME/.mozilla )

You should go through your $HOME carefully to detect all the necessary configs in the various dot files and dot folders/subfolders.

[manyroads]

@figueroa @asqwerth Aside from all the typos (I made)... most (many?) of my apps do leave .config files for me to use as a reminder (yes I have to remove non-used apps from that folder as I remove them from my environment). Additionally a few of the big name ones such as Firefox, thunderbird have their own dotfiles. I find most often those apps are preinstalled with a normal installation. I do have about three apps which, depending on the distro, need to be remembered; they are zim (wiki), calibre, onlyoffice, zoom, skype, etc. I include those in my list for manual installation(s); on MX, I use MXPI as a reminder and installer because it has most of the unique items I use readily available. On arch and other different Debian based distros (like devuan, debian, sparky, siduction) I have additional lists I use to install my 'non-standard' quirky tools.

EDIT: It occurs to me you can also obtain an excellent list of installed apps from /usr/share/applications (also won't be complete but it will be helpful). Or you can use j4-dmenu-desktop to provide one, manually (which will be about the same).

As I noted this is a totally manual thing. However, once I have my 'scripts' everything flies very quickly. Maintaining the list is not problem. FWIW. I do the same basic thing to remove 'any unwanted' apps from distros after installation.

I'm pretty certain my list is quite different from the norm around here because of the unique window manager configurations and dependencies I prefer; but maybe not. Nonetheless, upgrading, reinstalling, rebuilding have all become quite trivial using this super (stupid?) simple (non-complicated approach). I can easily rebuild my complete setup three to four times a day on the same machine while changing distros and transferring my 500GB of data.

All the automated approaches I tried, mostly using arch, tended to be much slower, harder to keep under control and less portable. So I looked for an easier more simple approach. This is what I came up with for my use. FWIW. Both my master arch install list and debian install list are about 85% common.

For those who care, in the arch world I tend to use 'yay' as my method for installation (which requires it be made available). In the 'Debian world' apt works fine so long as the app(s) are available.

As an old codger it works fine for me.

[figueroa]

@manyroads Thank you for your thoughtful reply.

A concatenation of your various approaches to "make a list" (like Santa Claus) is brilliant in it's simplicity. Most users should simply be able to refer to their desktop's Menu, cross check that for application name, and simply install those that were not already pre-installed. It's a lot less rocket-science than some make out.

[manyroads]

@manyroads Thank you for your thoughtful reply.

A concatenation of your various approaches to "make a list" (like Santa Claus) is brilliant in it's simplicity. Most users should simply be able to refer to their desktop's Menu, cross check that for application name, and simply install those that were not already pre-installed. It's a lot less rocket-science than some make out.

You are very welcome Andy @figueroa . I hope some folks benefit from the approach.

[asqwerth]

I've been advocating the same approach to make a text file with "sudo apt install [your list of manually installed packages] ' in so many previous migration discussion threads that I've stopped doing it since users can always make forum searches if they really wanted to.

I even posted my to do list that includes also then adding the flatpak apps and printer driver stuff that is separate from packages in the standard repos.