I wish there was a right click install button for deb files
I wish there was a right click install button for deb files
I know it's not that hard $ dpkg -i but opening the terminal gives normies an aneurysm and thanks to the crazy gatekeeping gen alpha doesn't know what a file type is now.
I use Ubuntu btw. Personally, the App store's on Linux confused me a ton, setting up Flatpak and some other package repositories. I much preferred the windows way, shocker, with just downloading and double-click the exe file.
Do I have to make a pull request myself to get this done, or what is the debate on this?
Just use nautilus-action
If you have Nautilus as the filemanager, you can write a Nautilus script that does this for you, you just then have to right click and select the script. You can run essentially any script this way, I use it for some preset file conversions.
I use Mint and I just double-click *.deb files to install them. Ubuntu does not do this?
FWIW instead of
dpkg -i stuff.deb, you can use apt as such:apt install ./stuff.deb(The path syntax like./is required to use a local file instead of searching for a package name).Unlike dpkg, apt is able to fetch dependencies if needed.
This is deliberately not allowed in order to ensure that Linux remains exclusive for nerds.
Gnome-Software and GDebi can do exactly that for you. Download a deb, right click "open with X", and they'll install it for you using GUI. You can even change file associations so debs are opened by gdebi/gnome-software by simple double-clicking.
Strange when I double click a .deb and or a .flatpakref file the gnome software application opens with the option to install that package. (Linux mint)
@RommieDroid It’s not there by default, but Gdebi can do the trick. I used it quite a lot when I first started with Linux.
That's awesome. Thank you.
@RommieDroid No problem. Many of us are here to help in the #linux community, though I wouldn’t say I’m the most advanced with it.
I much preferred the windows way, shocker, with just downloading and double-click the exe file.
This is appimage!
Om, AppImage is portable exe. Has it's uses.
Is this really a common occurrence for you, that the package isn't available via apt?
Most end-user software is not in Debian/Ubuntu repos. Sublime Text, Discord, Anydesk, Google Earth, Ente Photos, Synergy, Steam, NordVPN... The list goes on. You download a Deb from their website.
On Debian it is. The stable branch is a pain. I need to switch to something else.
When I was on popos I would just double click deb files and eddy would open and install
"popos" is german for "butts", PopOS! is a bit different
Eddy doesn't care which, he's installing
I really don't understand why it's not more streamlined, it should work like an exe where I just click it and it installs and handles dependencies automatically.
Installing a random .deb comes with enormous security implications. I am not sure that making the process more beginner friendly is a really good idea.
"Beginner friendly" should be limited to things from the main repositories, and for that there is the Software Center.
What linux does and does not protect the user from is endlessly hilarious to me.
Hey linux, I want to install a file you downloaded.
Linux: Sounds risky man
I'd like my file explorer to have super user privleges.
Linux: Are you out of your god damned mind?
Hey linux, I want to delete the kernel that I'm actively using right now.
Linux: Hell yeah. I'll go to the looney bin with you.
Not any more dangerous than installing a random exe. And a GUI that opens when you click one could explain that danger much better than what currently happens: people blindly use sudo dpkg and that's it.
It's the same thing with .exe on windows. It's potentially dangerous and people need to be mindful what they download and install.
@MangoPenguin @RommieDroid It’s more so that the people working on “beginner friendly” Linux distros are pushing users towards Software Centers/App stores these days.
Those of us who are familiar with the old ways don’t really have much trouble, but there’s stuff that is a big pain, like #LibreOffice
Installing the latest version of that is easier to do in the terminal and can’t be done as conveniently as what you propose, though I wish it was that easy.
I'm not so sure about those beginner-friendly distros, they seem a little doggy and miss out on the massive work that the Debian and Ubuntu teams do that a smaller team can not. Snap is good for small, one time use or untrusted apps. But most of the time, its performance is really slow. It needs some work.
@bryceac @MangoPenguin @RommieDroid LibreOffice is certainly an exception. One deb, no problem, but a whole screen full of them? And just running dpkg -i may get you two instances depending on the update? I finally went for flatpak on this one.
Wait, for real? Gen Alpha doesn't know what a file type is??
fr, windows hides the file type by default.
Windows has done this since I was a kid (I'm a millennial). Later gens have no excuse.
That's a bad idea because you have no clue if any random .deb file is actually compatible with your system or not (a .deb intended for use on Debian Bookworm will not necessarily work on Ubuntu 25.04, or vice-versa, for example). And that's on top of the security issues and lack of dependency resolution that others have mentioned already. If you're new enough to Linux that you don't feel comfortable with the terminal, you should not be trying to install things via .deb file to begin with.
Doesn't
apt(notapt-get), unlikedpkg, perform a dependency resolution before installing a downloaded deb package?
Just add your own context menu shortcut for .deb files that runs sudo deb -i $_
Not quite what you want, but in dolphin you can open a terminal with F4, and then just type
sudo deb -i <package.deb>and your password. Pretty quick.It's a useful shortcut.
Typing all that is still way much more work than just 2 clicks. Besides, OP specifically asked for an alternative without opening the terminal