I'm currently using Fedora, and while it's decent, I often find myself needing applications that are available in .deb or tar.gz formats, which I'm not too familiar with. I'm considering switching back to a Debian-based distribution. My question is, does Debian have access to all packages in Ubuntu's main and multiverse repositories, and can I use them safely?
5 Answers
Using Ubuntu packages on Debian can be a quick way to break your system. Just because a package is a .deb doesn't mean it will work on all Debian derivatives. Each distribution has its own set of packages, and trying to install them on different systems might cause issues. It's better to stick with packages specifically tailored for Debian.
Don't forget that a lot of apps can be installed via Flatpak. Check the software center before searching for .deb files; you might find what you need there without any hassles.
Learning to install packages isn't that hard. Debian has apt and Synaptic, just like Ubuntu. If you're more comfortable with those tools, you’ll pick it up quickly!
Debian doesn't have the Ubuntu repositories enabled by default because those packages are made for Ubuntu, not Debian. You can access the public repositories, but installing Ubuntu packages on Debian can lead to breakage. Most of the packages in Ubuntu originally come from Debian, so you will likely find them in Debian's repositories too.
You might want to tell us what applications you’re looking for. There could be alternatives available that work well with Debian directly.
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