The qapt-deb-installer launcher icon does not appear in the KDE main menu

[zoli62]

The easiest way to install deb packages downloaded in browsers is with the qapt-deb-installer application known as an alternative to gdebi. Last time I was surprised to find that this great application cannot be run directly from Kubuntu's main menu because it is not listed there. My question is, when installing qapt, does it really exist that a launcher icon is not created in the main menu of KDE Plasma?

[claydoh]

It is not a standalone application, per se. You 'run' it by double clicking a deb file. It doesn't have a menu entry for this reason, though I am sure you could make on manually. Actually, it *does* have a .desktop file in /usr/share/applications, but it is specifically marked "NoDisplay=true" specifically because it is not designed or intended to be run on its own.

If you have it installed, and Discover is still the application being opened when opening a deb, you probably just need to change the file association preference ordering.
Just be aware that this aging and not-maintained piece of software hasn't seen an update in over two and a half years, so it could start breaking, or old bugs not get fixed.
Such as this relatively common type of one: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...t/+bug/1952517 that used to annoy the heck out of me *many* years ago

[zoli62]

It is not a standalone application, per se. You 'run' it by double clicking a deb file. It doesn't have a menu entry for this reason, though I am sure you could make on manually. Actually, it *does* have a .desktop file in /usr/share/applications, but it is specifically marked "NoDisplay=true" specifically because it is not designed or intended to be run on its own

I only asked because the details of the application show that it is used as an alternative to gdebi for installing and removing packages on KDE, and therefore it should work independently.

[Schwarzer Kater]

[…] for installing and removing packages on KDE, and therefore it should work independently.

Quote from the Debian website: "The QApt deb installer allows you to install local .deb files."
So it is for .deb files only - not for any other packages/programs you normally would use apt or Discover for - so no need to start it from a menu on it's own…

Look for .deb in Systemsettings -> Applications -> … to make QApt deb installer the preferred program to install .deb files (standard is Discover) if you wish so as claydoh already suggested.

[claydoh]

I only asked because the details of the application show that it is used as an alternative to gdebi for installing and removing packages on KDE, and therefore it should work independently.

You could go and modify the .desktop for the application, found in /usr/share/applications, and edit the line, to comment out or remove the line showing NoDisplay=true. Or simply call it from krunner or the terminal. qapt-deb-installer

But it won't work. The application requires a deb filename be used in the command to run it. This is the way its developer(s) created it, specifically to be run when double-clicking on a deb file.

[zoli62]

Quote from the Debian website: "The QApt deb installer allows you to install local .deb files."
So it is for .deb files only - not for any other packages/programs you normally would use apt or Discover for - so no need to start it from a menu on it's own…

Look for .deb in Systemsettings -> Applications -> … to make QApt deb installer the preferred program to install .deb files (standard is Discover) if you wish so as claydoh already suggested.

I knew that the default package format in Ubuntu, and thus also in Kubuntu, is deb. I don't like Discover because, as it turned out last time, it marks the kernel images as manually installed, so sudo apt autoremove does not remove the old kernel images that only take up space unnecessarily. Therefore, the command line sudo apt install packagename remains on an exclusionary basis.

[claydoh]

I don't like Discover because, as it turned out last time, it marks the kernel images as manually installed

I am not sure this is actually the case here. Discover is using apt in the background to do the work, actually. Much the same as Muon, Synaptic, Qapt, and Gdebi. And this sort of situation has been seen to happened in the past, before Discover even existed. I suspect a stray bug in the system as opposed to Discover itself. Not saying Discover isn't a factor here, just one of a number of potential suspects, and imnsho , a bit lower on the scale.

[zoli62]

I am not sure this is actually the case here. Discover is using apt in the background to do the work, actually. Much the same as Muon, Synaptic, Qapt, and Gdebi. And this sort of situation has been seen to happened in the past, before Discover even existed. I suspect a stray bug in the system as opposed to Discover itself. Not saying Discover isn't a factor here, just one of a number of potential suspects, and imnsho , a bit lower on the scale.

Regardless, if we update the packages with the

sudo apt upgrade

command in the terminal, the kernel images will be automatically marked as having been installed automatically, while if we do the same with Discover, the installation of the kernel images will be marked manually. You should try to see what happens with Synaptic or Muon, but I don't like to use them for package updates. In my opinion, the most convenient way for most users to do this is to use the

sudo apt update

and

sudo apt upgrade

commands, after all, Kubuntu, as an Ubuntu flavor, is still based on Debian.

[claydoh]

A stray bug in their kernel packaging and updating system, rather.

after all, Kubuntu, as an Ubuntu flavor, is still based on Debian.

Yes, while this is quite true, there are more than a few differences in how Ubuntu sets up and manages packages than how Debian does it. These are mostly minor, but in many cases they can bite one in the butt.
For *buntu users, apt upgrade is ok about 95 of the time, maybe even 99,99 %, if there are zero external repos added such as any PPAs, like Kubuntu-Backports as an example, anything that upgrades packages.
It is far safer and preferable to use apt full-upgrade to prevent dependency breakages due to upgrade not being able to remove packages when necessary. This is not something that is likely to happen normally between releases. Historically, there were bigger differences between the old apt-get upgrade and dist-upgrade, such that dist-upgrade was mandatory. Nowdays, the differences between upgrade and full-upgrade are smaller, but full-upgrade is safe, and covers all use-cases.

[zoli62]

A stray bug in their kernel packaging and updating system, rather.


Yes, while this is quite true, there are more than a few differences in how Ubuntu sets up and manages packages than how Debian does it. These are mostly minor, but in many cases they can bite one in the butt.
For *buntu users, apt upgrade is ok about 95 of the time, maybe even 99,99 %, if there are zero external repos added such as any PPAs, like Kubuntu-Backports as an example, anything that upgrades packages.
It is far safer and preferable to use apt full-upgrade to prevent dependency breakages due to upgrade not being able to remove packages when necessary. This is not something that is likely to happen normally between releases. Historically, there were bigger differences between the old apt-get upgrade and dist-upgrade, such that dist-upgrade was mandatory. Nowdays, the differences between upgrade and full-upgrade are smaller, but full-upgrade is safe, and covers all use-cases.

I agree, but I wrote this as someone who "socialized" on Debian. I learned all the ins and outs of Linux on this traditional Linux distribution, especially the commands. I've been following Ubuntu since the beginning, although for a long time I only ran it on a virtual machine. I only started using Linux Mint in 2012, which is based on Ubuntu. Believe it or not, Kubuntu is the first Ubuntu distribution that I have used in a production environment only since January 2021, because I would not include the use of Linux Mint here, because it is a little different from Ubuntu. Although I didn't like KDE at the time, I even reported bugs, but today it has grown into a significantly mature desktop environment, which surprised even me. The other thing is that I think KDE suits Ubuntu and openSUSE the best.