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**dibl** · Sep 17, 2011, 07:42 AM

Re: apt pinning to a ppa

My understanding of the apt pinning procedure is that you pin to a version, not to a repo. But I could be wrong about that. However, upon reflection, it would seem to me that the result would be the same -- you keep the version you want and it won't be upgraded by some other version, regardless of the repo sources involved.

So, immediately after installing the version of the package that you want, you issue:

Code:

sudo echo packagename hold|dpkg --set-selections

and thereafter that package will not be upgraded, regardless of repos added or deleted.

To "set it free", you issue:

Code:

sudo echo packagename install|dpkg --set-selections

And to list any/all pinned packages on your system:

Code:

sudo dpkg --get-selections | grep hold

**doctordruidphd** · Sep 17, 2011, 07:49 AM

Re: apt pinning to a ppa

Right, but the problem is everything in the oneiric repositories that I can find is a firefox beta.

root@Wolfenstein:/# apt-cache policy firefox
firefox:
Installed: 7.0~b5+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu1
Candidate: 7.0~b5+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu1
Version table:
*** 7.0~b5+build1+nobinonly-0ubuntu1 0
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

If I could get a non-beta, yes, holding would work. I have done pinning on debian/aptosid, but they don't use ppa's - specifically to pin iceweasel to a more recent repository (whatever version it might be) than what is in sid itself. My understanding is that pinning is primarily to control the source from which an application is installed -- it probably can be used both ways.

This file, from aptosid, pins iceweasel to the experimental repo:

Package: iceweasel xulrunner-1.9.1 xulrunner-1.9.2 xulrunner-1.9.3 libmozjs3d libmozjs4d
Pin: release a=experimental
Pin-Priority: 100

Yeah I think you can "pin version" as well, but since there is no non-beta version in oneiric, this won't help (at the moment).

**doctordruidphd** · Sep 17, 2011, 11:53 AM

Re: apt pinning to a ppa

Got this figured out, sort of.

Used this as a source of information:

http://marcin.juszkiewicz.com.pl/201...u-natty-11-04/

So here is what I did:

1. Add the following lines to /etc/apt/sources.list:

## for installing firefox stable
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty-security main restricted universe multiverse

then apt-get update

2. Add the file 30pinning to /etc/apt/preferences.d :

Code:

Package: *
Pin: release n=oneiric
Pin-Priority: 900

Package: *
Pin: release n=natty
Pin-Priority: 800

3. Remove the existing firefox stuff:

apt-get remove firefox

This will drag some other firefox stuff out along with it. bye-bye

4. Install the natty version of firefox:

apt-get install -t natty firefox

This will drag in firefox-globalmenu. Forget about the other integration stuff.

5. Hold the firefox packages:

sudo -i
echo "firefox hold" | dpkg --set-selections
echo "firefox-globalmenu hold" | dpkg --set-selections
exit

6. Copy ~/.mozilla from natty to oneiric home directory.

Away it goes. Be sure to remove the 30pinning file and natty sources.list entries afterwards, and make bloody sure you don't do a dist-upgrade before removing them.

It seems to be working right, but then, as one who knows once warned, "Nothing is more dangerous than a computer output the looks right..."

Note that I tried this with thunderbird, no joy. Thunderbird seems to have too many threads lying around the system for this method to work. I wound up installing v6 from the mozilla website in /opt/thunderbird. Works. I don't run flash from inside tb, so no issues so far.

PS: I still haven't figured out how to pin things to a ppa. That just may not be possible, given the apt system was designed for debian repositories and the ppa thing came later. I would like to get it figured out if it is possible.

**dibl** · Sep 17, 2011, 01:09 PM

Re: apt pinning to a ppa

Originally posted by doctordruidphd

as one who knows once warned, "Nothing is more dangerous than a computer output the looks right..."

Hah -- I had never heard it, but how true that is!

Had I fully understood your problem, I might have suggested a similar work-around. I have done a similar maneuver to install digikam2, showfoto2, and kipi-plugins2 from the philip5/natty PPA (the only place it exists) onto my 11.10 installation, just for experimental purposes. It worked for several weeks, up until today's dist-upgrade :P

Alternatively you could have just grabbed the debian stable .deb package for iceweasel, and it should work correctly. I've gotten away from firefox/iceweasel in favor of chromium-browser in recent years, which seems a lot happier in a qt/KDE environment. They both have their pluses and minuses.

**doctordruidphd** · Sep 17, 2011, 02:38 PM

Re: [solved] apt pinning to a ppa

The only reason I stick with firefox is that over the years, I have figured out how to nail it down pretty tight as far as security and ad blocking are concerned. However, with them going to this frequent-update-that-breaks-everything model, it's probably time to start looking elsewhere.

**dibl** · Sep 17, 2011, 03:11 PM

Re: [solved] apt pinning to a ppa

If you have the time and inclination, you might want to check out chromium-browser, with the "ghostery" plugin, and the "duck duck go" search engine. I'm not a browser security expert, but it seems pretty tight. I run it that way on aptosid -- I'd love to hear your opinion if you evaluate it.

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[solved] apt pinning to a ppa

[solved] apt pinning to a ppa

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