Have you switched to new APT sources list format yet?

[CaffeineAddict]

Old format:

deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main non-free-firmware
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main non-free-firmware
deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main non-free-firmware
deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main non-free-firmware

New format:

Types: deb deb-src
URIs: http://deb.debian.org/debian
Suites: trixie trixie-updates
Components: main non-free-firmware
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg

SourcesList - Debian Wiki

wiki.debian.org

Warning though prior running sudo apt modernize-sources because in my case it did not convert all sources in /etc/apt/sources.list.d
Also take care if you want to manually switch, the sources files must not end with *.list extension, it will not work when you do sudo apt update, new format for some reason requires extension to be *.sources

You can learn more about the format with man sources.list

 

[Condobloke]

This is related to Debian only ?

 

[CaffeineAddict]

This is related to Debian only ?

It appears this applies to debian derivatives as well, e.g.

https://dannyda.com/2025/08/09/how-to-modernize-sources-in-debian-ubuntu-kali-linux-etc/

According to AI:

The deb822 format is fully supported by Debian and its derivatives. While it's becoming more prominent in Debian 13 (Trixie), the old format will continue to be supported until 2029. Most modern Debian-based distributions like Ubuntu, Linux Mint, and others are expected to adopt this format.

 

[craigevil]

Yes.
/etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.sources

# Debian 13 Trixie
Types: deb deb-src
URIs: https://deb.debian.org/debian/
Suites: trixie trixie-updates trixie-proposed-updates
Components: main  contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg

# Security Updates
Types: deb
URIs: https://deb.debian.org/debian-security/
Suites: trixie-security
Components: main  contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg

# Testing
Types: deb deb-src
URIs: https://deb.debian.org/debian/
Suites: testing
Components: main  contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg
Enabled: no

# Unstable
Types: deb deb-src
URIs: https://deb.debian.org/debian/
Suites: unstable
Components: main  contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg
Enabled: yes
NotAutomatic: yes

backports: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-backports.sources

Origin: Debian Trixie Backports
Types: deb deb-src
URIs: https://deb.debian.org/debian/
Suites: trixie-backports
Components: main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg
Enabled: yes

ls /etc/apt/sources.list.d

 

[f33dm3bits]

Yes I have, I used "apt modernize-sources" on multiples systems and all sources werk correctly converted.

 

[guiverc]

This is related to Debian only ?

For Ubuntu, your sources will get modernized when you run the do-release-upgrade and switch to a more modern release using it.

Debian & Ubuntu implemented the change at the same time (Debian sid being where they collaborate).

[Spec] APT deb822 sources by default

Index FO066 Title APT deb822 sources by default Status Approved Authors @juliank Type Standard Created 2021-05-13 Abstract APT’s deb822 sources format is an alternative, often shorter, representation of sources.list that also interacts better with new features in apt. We...

discourse.ubuntu.com

 

[wizardfromoz]

Have you switched to new APT sources list format yet?

Short answer is no, other than having it in one of my Debian Trixie, and in an Anduin OS Ubuntu-based off Plucky Puffin, which nagged me.

Early days for me, but not particularly thrilled yet, enough to change. The link from @guiverc above is worth a good read, and shows this has been on the drawing board for three years. Thanks Chris.

It appears it was apt version 2.9.26 released in February 2025 that first incorporated support for the modernize-sources part of the command, and the "new deb822 standard" with Trixie.

Mint are not behind it yet, and given sources.list is supported until at least 2029, I'll wait, I think.

apt has been out since 2014 (maybe 2016) and apt-get deprecated, but in 2025, apt-get is still working fine.

To my mind, with the phrase "latest and greatest", latest is not always synonymous with greatest.

Cheers

Wiz

 

[CaffeineAddict]

apt has been out since 2014 (maybe 2016) and apt-get deprecated, but in 2025, apt-get is still working fine.

Are you sure apt-get is deprecated? that sounds odd and I can't find any info about it in quick search.

apt is favored over apt-get, however it does not deprecate it to my knowledge.

 

[osprey]

Are you sure apt-get is deprecated? that sounds odd and I can't find any info about it in quick search.

apt is favored over apt-get, however it does not deprecate it to my knowledge.

Your skepticism is well founded. Neither apt nor apt-get are deprecated, rather they are deeply set in debian without any hint of not staying quite central to the distro. Apt-get appeared around 2000 in debian "slink" I think, and was developed methodically. Apt was the friendly "front-end" to apt-get which was introduced in "jessie" in about 2015. When running apt, one often sees the warning not to use apt in scripts. The reason is that it's the front end and so more likely to be changed in its detail outputs, which is not ideal for scripts that need to be predictable in their performance. For such scripts, apt-get is recommended.

 

[osprey]

.

To my mind, with the phrase "latest and greatest", latest is not always synonymous with greatest.

Cheers

Wiz

This thought is one of those that often stimulates debate, and often I'm not one to always take up the "latest". That said, however, on this particular issue of the format of the sources files, I think it's worth a look to consider the differences.

This is a conventional entry:

deb http://ftp.au.debian.org/debian/ forky main contrib non-free non-free-firmware

This is the modernized equivalent:

Types: deb
URIs: http://ftp.au.debian.org/debian/
Suites: forky
Components: main  contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Signed-By: /usr/share/keyrings/debian-archive-keyring.gpg

One aspect that impresses me in the modernized source is the provision of the name of the configuration field that the configuration is setting, so, the "Type" is deb (a .deb file presumably), the "Suite" is forky etc. It's more explanatory than the old single line format, which is something to be valued I think. It helps with making the file less obscure which I think is a "good thing".

Another aspect, is that it holds more information. The particular format also has a sort of "future proofing" aspect since it appears that any future additions such as a new field could be easily made with a new configuration field name. YMMV.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

it holds more information.

That's reason why I like it too, for reference there are other keys too such as Architectures: amd64,i386 if you need to set it.

Ubuntu Manpage: sources.list - List of configured APT data sources

manpages.ubuntu.com

 

[craigevil]

Explanation of the DEB822 Source Format — RepoLib documentation

deb822(5) — dpkg-dev — Debian unstable — Debian Manpages

sources.list(5) — apt — Debian unstable — Debian Manpages

 

[wizardfromoz]

My bad, I may have confused it with the fact that apt-key add was deprecated.

I am aware of the warning on using apt in scripts and so I use apt-get in all my scripts.

Cheers

Wiz

BTW this is not a bad read

https://linuxconfig.org/apt-vs-apt-get-advanced-package-tool

 

[craigevil]

You can get rid of the error message that using apt in scripts causes.

Apt::Cmd::Disable-Script-Warning "true";

Other things I like to add to my 00local

APT::Sandbox::User "root";

Get rid of the new page in terminal:

Binary::apt::Pager "false";

 

[CaffeineAddict]

You can get rid of the error message that using apt in scripts causes.

Disabling warnings in this case is bad idea, you want your script to behave predictably.
If something does go wrong, you'll have hard time to figure out what that is without warnings.

 

[GatorsFan]

Under the new format when you open Synaptic Package Manager and click Settings then Repositories you will find it empty since it is looking for sources.list and not debian.sources

 

[Alexzee]

Short answer, no.
If it isn't broke I tend to leave things as they are.

As long as my Linux boxes pull from the Debian and Slackware repo's to update the systems I have, I'm happy.

 

[deb_user]

I have switched. Just because. I don't use Synaptic at all, I far prefer using the terminal for package management. It's faster for me.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

I don't use Synaptic at all

Yes, Synaptic belongs to history.

Power to the keyboard and terminal!

 

[Alexzee]

I have switched. Just because. I don't use Synaptic at all, I far prefer using the terminal for package management. It's faster for me.

Ditto-