aaron-kelley.net

Notice:  I am not currently maintaining this page, but I decided to leave it online.  If you know of some good repositories, leave them in the comments below!

One of the awesome things about Ubuntu (and most other major Linux distributions) is the package manager and software repositories.  Using the package manager, you can install any number of applications directly from online repositories — no need to visit different web sites to get your applications, or install software from physical media like CDs.  Furthermore, if an application is updated, the update can be published in the software repository, and then everyone who installed the application from the software repository will have the update offerred to them automatically, through Ubuntu’s update manager.

All that being said, most of the software in the default set of repositories is not updated very often, aside from new releases of the distribution.  Usually, updates are only pushed for security issues and other major bugs.  This makes sense, as it keeps the functionality of your system the same as when you installed it, which reduces the chance of new bugs creeping in.  Major software updates are published in the form of a new distribution release, which allows for just one new set of applications to check for problems.

But, some of us would like to take advantage of new features in our favorite applications without waiting for them to be included in a new version of the distribution.  So, application developers can run their own software repositories, which Ubuntu users can add to the list of repositories that Ubuntu checks for updates.  This allows you to receive updates sooner, directly from the people who publish the application, or from other people who take the application and package it up just for this purpose.  (So many application vendors for Windows or Mac OS X have implemented their own automatic update system for use in their applications; this is unnecessary with a package manager with support for third-party repositories, included with your operating system.)

Here, I thought I’d post a list of extra repositories that I find to be both particularly useful and well-maintained.  I’ll update this list as I find more.  If you have any suggestions, leave them in the comments below!

Each entry contains lines (that begin with deb) that you need to add to your /etc/apt/sources.list file.  When you copy the lines to your sources.list file, you should change “[ver]” to match the version of Ubuntu that you are using (hardy, intrepid, jaunty, etc.).  There’s also an additional line that is a command that you can run from the terminal to add the key used to sign packages in the repository into Ubuntu’s list of trusted keys.

• Banshee
  Banshee is slated replace Rhythmbox as the default media player in future releases of Ubuntu.  This repository contains the latest stable version.
  ~
  deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/banshee-team/ppa/ubuntu [ver] main #Banshee
  deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/banshee-team/ppa/ubuntu [ver] main #Banshee
  sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 6E80C6B7
  ~
• FreeNX
  The FreeNX server, which allows you to access a desktop session remotely using an NX client.
  ~
  deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/freenx-team/ubuntu [ver] main #FreeNX
  deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/freenx-team/ubuntu [ver] main #FreeNX
  sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com D018A4CE
  ~
• Google
  This repository contains some Google software that is not available in the default Ubuntu repositories, like Google Desktop and Picasa.
  ~
  deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ stable non-free #Google
  wget -q https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub -O- | apt-key add -
  ~
• Medibuntu (free)
  This repository contains open-source packages, mostly dealing with multimedia, that cannot be included in Ubuntu for legal reasons.  This is where you get libdvdcss, to allow for playback of commercial DVD movies.
  ~
  deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ [ver] free #Medibuntu free
  deb-src http://packages.medibuntu.org/ [ver] free #Medibuntu free
  sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring
  (add key after adding Medibuntu repository)
  ~
• Medibuntu (non-free)
  This repository contains closed-source packages that cannot be included in Ubuntu for legal reasons.  You can get the Linux versions of some popular applications, like Google Earth, Skype, and Adobe Reader.
  ~
  deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ [ver] non-free #Medibuntu non-free
  deb-src http://packages.medibuntu.org/ [ver] non-free #Medibuntu non-free
  sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring
  (add key after adding open-source Medibuntu repository)
  ~
• mkvtoolnix
  An application for muxing and demuxing MKV files.
  ~
  deb http://www.bunkus.org/ubuntu/[ver]/ ./ #MkvToolNix
  deb-src http://www.bunkus.org/ubuntu/[ver]/ ./ #MkvToolNix
  wget -q http://www.bunkus.org/gpg-pub-moritzbunkus.txt -O- | sudo apt-key add -
  ~
• OpenOffice.org
  This repository allows you to install the latest version of OpenOffice.org.
  ~
  deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/openoffice-pkgs/ppa/ubuntu [ver] main #OpenOffice.org
  deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/openoffice-pkgs/ppa/ubuntu [ver] main #OpenOffice.org
  sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 247D1CFF
  ~
• Opera
  This repository contains the latest version of the Opera web browser.
  ~
  deb http://deb.opera.com/opera/ sid non-free #Opera
  wget -q http://deb.opera.com/archive.key -O- | sudo apt-key add -
  ~
• Pidgin
  This repository allows you to keep up to date with the latest version of the Pidgin instant messaging client.
  ~
  deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/pidgin-developers/ppa/ubuntu [ver] main #Pidgin
  deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/pidgin-developers/ppa/ubuntu [ver] main #Pidgin
  sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com A1F196A8
  ~
• Shutter
  Shutter is a cool tool for taking screen shots.
  ~
  deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/shutter/ppa/ubuntu [ver] main #Shutter
  deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/shutter/ppa/ubuntu [ver] main #Shutter
  sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 009ED615
  ~
• Transmission
  This repository allows you to keep up to date with the latest version of the Transmission BitTorrent client.
  ~
  deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/transmissionbt/ubuntu [ver] main #Transmission BitTorrent
  deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/transmissionbt/ubuntu [ver] main #Transmission BitTorrent
  sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 365C5CA1
  ~
• Ubuntu Tweak
  This application allows you to modify some settings in Ubuntu that are not otherwise exposed via the graphical user interface.
  ~
  deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ubuntu [ver] main #Ubuntu Tweak
  deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ubuntu [ver] main #Ubuntu Tweak
  sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 0624A220
  ~
• VirtualBox
  This repository contains the latest version of the VirtualBox virtual machine application.  It is the closed-source version, which contains a few features that the open-source version (available in the default Ubuntu repositories) does not.
  ~
  deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian [ver] non-free #VirtualBox
  wget -q http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian/sun_vbox.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -
  ~
• VLC
  This repository allows you to keep up to date with the latest version of the VLC media player.
  ~
  deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/c-korn/vlc/ubuntu [ver] main #VLC
  deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/c-korn/vlc/ubuntu [ver] main #VLC
  sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 7613768D
  ~
• Wine
  This repository allows you to keep up to date with the latest version of the Wine Windows compatibility layer.
  ~
  deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-wine/ppa/ubuntu [ver] main #Wine
  deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ubuntu-wine/ppa/ubuntu [ver] main #Wine
  sudo apt-key adv --recv-keys --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com 5A9A06AEF9CB8DB0
  ~