Sources question - single lines vs. combined?

[oshunluvr]

I was cleaning up some unneeded sources on my formerly 18.04 KDEneon that I upgraded to 20.04, and I noticed that some sources are on a single line but some are not.

Example;

deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse

vs.;


deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security multiverse


Is there any functional difference or is this just the result of various tools at installation/upgrade?

[claydoh]

None, as far as I know. Separate lines would be useful for being able to disable individual components, I guess, but for sections like Backports, having one line makes it easier to toggle the whole thing off or on,as this component is (iirc) better suited to having them all on or off together.

Some people of the more freedom-loving sort may disable sections like Multiverse since that section contains non-open source stuff. But then again, they put Restricted with Main for security updates, though this part usually has the non free drivers for wifi, etc. if you don't have Multiverse or Restricted enabled in the main repos, you won't have any Restricted stuff anyway... but I iz still confyoozed a bit.


I think the layout is mainly to make the Software Sources tool in *buntu easier and simpler to manage in the UI.