[SOLVED] Muon Package Manager Configure Software Sources

[Snowhog]

Muon Package Manager installs in KDE neon User Edition just fine. Apt indicates no errors or conflicts. Launching Muon Package Manager is also without any issues. But, you can't Configure Software Sources because of a missing package: software-properties-kde. This missing package isn't installable in KDE neon User Edition; it isn't in any of the default repositories in use by KDE neon User Edition.

As the absence of this package cripples part of Muon Package Manager, I have to ask: Why is this necessary dependent package not available in KDE neon User Edition?

[chimak111]

In Kubuntu 20.04, I have

$ apt list --installed 2>/dev/null | grep -i software-properties
python3-software-properties/focal-updates,focal-updates,now 0.98.9.4 all [installed,automatic]
software-properties-common/focal-updates,focal-updates,now 0.98.9.4 all [installed,automatic]
software-properties-qt/focal-updates,focal-updates,now 0.98.9.4 all [installed,automatic]
$

[Don B. Cilly]

I have software-properties-qt on neon User.
I don't know if you can tell Muon to use that (I don't have Muon - I don't want it, if I install it it install the xapian stuff which I positively hate - so I use either apt or Synaptic.

Funny thing is:

~$ software-properties-kde

Command 'software-properties-kde' not found, but can be installed with:

sudo apt install muon

[Snowhog]

The same here on my Kubuntu 20.04.2 LTS install. And in Kubuntu 20.04.2 LTS, you can configure software sources in Muon Package Manager, even though software-properties-kde isn't installed (it too, there, doesn't exist in any of the repositories).

I installed software-properties-qt. Didn't make any difference. Clicking on Settings > Configure Software Sources in Muon Package Manager still complains about the missing software-properties-kde package.

So in KDE neon User Edition (at least), Muon Package Manager has a dependency on software-properties-kde but it isn't/can't be installed.

[Snowhog]

I have software-properties-qt on neon User.
I don't know if you can tell Muon to use that (I don't have Muon - I don't want it, if I install it it install the xapian stuff which I positively hate - so I use either apt or Synaptic.

Funny thing is:

~$ software-properties-kde

Command 'software-properties-kde' not found, but can be installed with:

sudo apt install muon

That's I believe, because the package information file for muon identifies software-properties-kde as a 'suggested' package. If it was identified as 'required', then you wouldn't be able to install muon, as apt would complain about a required missing dependency.

Something in Denmark smells like fish!

[claydoh]

Muon is essentially unmaintained, and this application may coded to look for the old software sources tool software-properties-kde
As they moved to a tool that can be used in both Kubuntu and Lubuntu, the replaced the KDE version with a Qt version, software-properties-qt.

I do not believe that Muon can use the new tool, it may be hard coded to call the old software-properties-kde
Muon should work with software-properties-qt, it was the last thing to change in it, back in 2018.


software-properties-kde and the current software-properties-qt are purely Ubuntu created and specific tools, Neon and KDE have nothing to do with this at all.
Same for Muon, which has not had a new version since 18.04 was released.

Kubuntu includes software-properties-qt by default, so Muon Just Works (or it should) in terms of repo management, and probably no one noticed (or cared) that on non-Kubuntu setups, Muon does not depend on software-properties-qt.

KDE Neon does not include this, as it is a Kubuntu tool, not a KDE one. Same for Muon.

It is Kubuntu's packaging for Muon that is causing this. It *should* depend on the current software-properties tool , but it is not getting pulled in when it is installed.


The only things in Neon's repos are Plasma and Qt, everything else is straight from Ubuntu's, including Muon etc.

[Don B. Cilly]

I installed software-properties-qt. Didn't make any difference. Clicking on Settings > Configure Software Sources in Muon Package Manager still complains about the missing software-properties-kde package.

Well, you can always call it standalone. Either with sudo from CLI or from Launcher as "Software and Updates".
It's not as you change software sources every day is it :-)
I understand it's not ideal, but...

[Snowhog]

Muon is essentially unmaintained, and this application may coded to look for the old software sources tool software-properties-kde
As they moved to a tool that can be used in both Kubuntu and Lubuntu, the replaced the KDE version with a Qt version, software-properties-qt.

I do not believe that Muon can use the new tool, it may be hard coded to call the old software-properties-kde
Muon should work with software-properties-qt, it was the last thing to change in it, back in 2018.


software-properties-kde and the current software-properties-qt are purely Ubuntu created and specific tools, Neon and KDE have nothing to do with this at all.
Same for Muon, which has not had a new version since 18.04 was released.

Kubuntu includes software-properties-qt by default, so Muon Just Works (or it should) in terms of repo management, and probably no one noticed (or cared) that on non-Kubuntu setups, Muon does not depend on software-properties-qt.

KDE Neon does not include this, as it is a Kubuntu tool, not a KDE one. Same for Muon.

It is Kubuntu's packaging for Muon that is causing this. It *should* depend on the current software-properties tool , but it is not getting pulled in when it is installed.


The only things in Neon's repos are Plasma and Qt, everything else is straight from Ubuntu's, including Muon etc.

On my newly installed KDE neon User Edition (neon-user-20210311-0944.iso), a reverse depends on muon shows:

Dependencies:  
4:5.8.0-1xneon+20.04+focal+build3 - apt-xapian-index (0 (null)) libqapt3 (2 3.0.2) libqapt3-runtime (2 3.0.2) libc6 (2 2.14) libdebc
onf-kde1 (2 1.0.0) libkf5completion5 (0 (null)) libkf5configcore5 (0 (null)) libkf5configgui5 (0 (null)) libkf5configwidgets5 (0 (nu
ll)) libkf5coreaddons5 (0 (null)) libkf5dbusaddons5 (0 (null)) libkf5i18n5 (0 (null)) libkf5iconthemes5 (0 (null)) libkf5kiocore5 (0
 (null)) libkf5widgetsaddons5 (0 (null)) libkf5xmlgui5 (0 (null)) libqt5core5a (2 5.15.0+dfsg) libqt5gui5 (2 5.15.0+dfsg) libqt5netw
ork5 (2 5.15.0+dfsg) libqt5widgets5 (2 5.15.0+dfsg) libstdc++6 (2 4.1.1) muon-updater (0 (null))  
4:5.8.0-1xneon+20.04+focal+build2 - apt-xapian-index (0 (null)) libqapt3 (2 3.0.2) libqapt3-runtime (2 3.0.2) libc6 (2 2.14) libdebc
onf-kde1 (2 1.0.0) libkf5completion5 (0 (null)) libkf5configcore5 (0 (null)) libkf5configgui5 (0 (null)) libkf5configwidgets5 (0 (nu
ll)) libkf5coreaddons5 (0 (null)) libkf5dbusaddons5 (0 (null)) libkf5i18n5 (0 (null)) libkf5iconthemes5 (0 (null)) libkf5kiocore5 (0
 (null)) libkf5widgetsaddons5 (0 (null)) libkf5xmlgui5 (0 (null)) libqt5core5a (2 5.14.2+dfsg) libqt5gui5 (2 5.14.2+dfsg) libqt5netw
ork5 (2 5.14.2+dfsg) libqt5widgets5 (2 5.14.2+dfsg) libstdc++6 (2 4.1.1) muon-updater (0 (null))  
4:5.8.0-1ubuntu5 - apt-xapian-index (0 (null)) kde-cli-tools (0 (null)) libqapt3 (2 3.0.2) libqapt3-runtime (2 3.0.2) software-prope
rties-qt (0 (null)) kio (0 (null)) libc6 (2 2.14) libdebconf-kde1 (2 1.0.0) libkf5completion5 (2 4.97.0) libkf5configcore5 (2 4.98.0
) libkf5configgui5 (2 4.97.0) libkf5configwidgets5 (2 4.96.0) libkf5coreaddons5 (2 4.100.0) libkf5dbusaddons5 (2 4.97.0) libkf5i18n5
 (2 4.97.0) libkf5iconthemes5 (2 4.96.0) libkf5kiocore5 (2 4.96.0) libkf5widgetsaddons5 (2 4.96.0) libkf5xmlgui-bin (0 (null)) libkf
5xmlgui5 (2 4.98.0) libqt5core5a (2 5.12.2) libqt5gui5 (18 5.7.0) libqt5gui5-gles (2 5.7.0) libqt5network5 (2 5.4.0~) libqt5widgets5
 (2 5.11.0~rc1) libstdc++6 (2 4.1.1) software-properties-kde (0 (null)) software-properties-kde (0 (null))

[claydoh]

I have to stand corrected, Muon is in Neon's repos, dunno how I missed that. Apologies.

$ apt policy muon
muon:
Installed: (none)
Candidate: 4:5.8.0-1xneon+20.04+focal+build3
Version table:
4:5.8.0-1xneon+20.04+focal+build3 500
500 http://archive.neon.kde.org/user focal/main amd64 Packages
4:5.8.0-1xneon+20.04+focal+build2 500
500 http://archive.neon.kde.org/user focal/main amd64 Packages
4:5.8.0-1ubuntu5 500
500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal/universe amd64 Packages

The actual package does not include software-properties dep, as it would in Ubuntu:

Package: muon
Version: 4:5.8.0-1xneon+20.04+focal+build3
Architecture: amd64
Maintainer: Neon CI <neon@kde.org>
Installed-Size: 2105
Depends: apt-xapian-index, libqapt3 (>= 3.0.2), libqapt3-runtime (>= 3.0.2), libc6 (>= 2.14), libdebconf-kde1 (>= 1.0.0), libkf5completion5, libkf5configcore5, libkf5configgui5, libkf5configwidgets5, libkf5coreaddons5, libkf5dbusaddons5, libkf5i18n5, libkf5iconthemes5, libkf5kiocore5, libkf5widgetsaddons5, libkf5xmlgui5, libqt5core5a (>= 5.15.0+dfsg), libqt5gui5 (>= 5.15.0+dfsg), libqt5network5 (>= 5.15.0+dfsg), libqt5widgets5 (>= 5.15.0+dfsg), libstdc++6 (>= 4.1.1)
Recommends: muon-updater
Section: kde
Priority: optional
Homepage: https://projects.kde.org/projects/kde/workspace/muon
Description: package manager for KDE

Probably worth a bug report, but if no one is working on it, the button and its functionality won't be fixed - the commit from the bug report is from August 2018.
And this is easy to get overlooked, as Neon uses an automated packaging system, pulling the code from git branches, and something like this is probably not a commonly used application, in Neon at least.

I betcha installing and pinning the Ubuntu version might work, as a workaround to try, barring any possible hard Qt version deps on that version.

[Snowhog]

I 'fixed' the problem, and the fix will persist through upgrades.

I created a symbolic link in /usr/bin.

sudo ln -s software-properties-qt software-properties-kde

Done. I can now access Settings > Configure Software Sources in Muon Package Manager normally. The password dialog window appears, type in my pwd, and Bob is your Uncle.