[Solved] Install software offline, best way ?

SpongeB0B

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Hi everyone,

I'm trying to install ATOM editor on Devuan (this machine is off-line)

On windows no problem at all to install it as portable application / off-line

I've tried the following

  1. I've downloaded the .deb file and tried this

    Bash:
    apt install atom-amd64_160.deb --no-install-recommends --no-install-suggests
    The following additional packages will be installed:
    git git-man liberror-perl patch

    Suggested packages:
    git-daemon-run | git-daemon-sysvinit git-doc git-el git-email git-gui gitk
    gitweb git-cvs git-mediawiki git-svn ed diffutils-doc
    The following NEW packages will be installed:
    atom git git-man liberror-perl patch

    0 upgraded, 5 newly installed, 0 to remove and 86 not upgraded.
    Need to get 7,514 kB/146 MB of archives.
    After this operation, 707 MB of additional disk space will be used.
    I do not want those git git-man liberror-perl patch
    and this machine if off-line and can't download them.

  2. I've downloaded the .tar.gz file uncompressed in /home/me/Desktop/atom
    double clicked on /home/me/Desktop/atom/atom
    but I get:

    openwith.png


  3. I've tired also

    Code:
    dpkg --install atom-amd64_160.deb
    That work
    working.png


    but it's unstable... after x seconds or typing with the keyboard I got ->
    crashed.png

Any ideas to install this software off-line ? (if it's possible ? )
Thanks
 
Last edited:


Okay, I'm going to split this into parts and answer each. If you want to skip, the answers are below, in the last patagraph.

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to install ATOM editor on Devuan (this machine is off-line)
1. Does this version match the version in your repo? Devuan is basically Debian without systemd (plus some tweaks AFAIK). That means Debian rules will likely apply: "One cannot simply..." install a random .deb. You need to a) meet the correct versions of the dependencies and ensure the same of related software. That is why we have package managers. And b)ensure said random .deb is stable.


On windows no problem at all to install it as portable application / off-line
Irrelevant, Windows is a different platform with different binary formats, filesystems, locations of PATH, etc.

[*]I've downloaded the .deb file and tried this

Bash:
apt install atom-amd64_160.deb --no-install-recommends --no-install-suggests
You need to use dpkg --install to install a .deb -- I note you did that later on.

I do not want those git git-man liberror-perl patch and this machine if off-line and can't download them.[...]

but it's unstable... after x seconds or typing with the keyboard I got[...]
Why don't you want them? They won't affect your system negatively and are needed -- remember there are other reasons for dependencies besides merely making a piece of software execute. Some packages need git and patch for self-updating or to fetch additional data (although unlikely here because of Debian's software policies). In you case, it's likely liberror-perl causing the crash coz I'm assuming that atom is using the liberror API (via perl scripts).
If it is offline, how did you get atom.deb? Get the dependies the same way, although I would usually advise against this if you're not a very experienced user.

Any ideas to install this software off-line ? (if it's possible ? )
Thanks
1) If you have the full install CD/DVD/etc. then you can configure APT to use that. There's probably a line commented out in /etc/apt/sources.list that you just uncomment, comment the rest. If not, just websearch "add CD ROM to sources.list" (am not at my PC, don't recall the syntax). Once the CD/etc. is your source then run apt-get update and then you can install from there.
2) Download the Appimage, run it underpriviledged (pref in a firejail), and if you're happy you can trust it, problem solved.
3) Source build. On another, net-connected machine: Try downloading the source and deps, then building it with static linkage to deps like lib* and it may work as a single binary since deps that aren't linked may not be 100% necessary. Do not try to install it system-wide. Put it somewhere like /opt/ and manually invoke it. Note that you must follow the developer/developers' instructions, so if they tell you to have package X, then there's no getting around it.
 
I've downloaded the .deb file and tried this

Bash:
apt install atom-amd64_160.deb --no-install-recommends --no-install-suggests
When installing offline, you don't need the --no-install-recommends --no-install-suggests, if the machine is offline, it can't get --recommends or --suggests unless you'd previously downloaded, which you didn't, and advise you not to, since that can be quite a PITA process; download a pkg and all of its dependencies for offline install. Also, the proper way to install a pkg you downloaded with apt is
Code:
sudo apt install ./pkg_name.deb
As I see it, you have 2 options here:
1. If possible, connect the pc and do a proper install, allowing the pkg to get and satisfy its dependencies.
2. Follow fanboi's suggestion, and download the Appimage https://www.appimagehub.com/p/1422733
I use several appimages, and have never had a problem with them.
 
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Thank you @Fanboi (aka Onizuka :p ) & @Tolkem

... Does this version match the version in your repo? ...
No ideas, I will check

Why don't you want them? They won't affect your system negatively
I'm in favor to install only the strict minimum..
That's better for security and efficiency of the system.

and It's weird because it run ! without those dependencies (see my screenshot) it fail after a time, because I guess one feature (that I don't use, need them)

... Some packages need git and patch for self-updating or to fetch additional data
That what I'm totally against ! Self-updating without consent of the user :eek:

If it is offline, how did you get atom.deb?
From https://github.com/atom/atom/releases/tag/v1.60.0 with a connected computer and them USB dongle :)

2) Download the Appimage, run it underpriviledged (pref in a firejail), and if you're happy you can trust it, problem solved.
Thank you ! this look really promising ! I will give it a shot & Firejail too thanks !
 
@SpongeB0B If you don't mind me asking, why atom? There are other text editors which are far less complicated and that might get the job done as well, chances are some or all of them are already available on your system, i.e. nano, vi, vim. Or, a simple GUI text editor will do, too. Do note that atom is an IDE (integrated development environment) and not just a text editor. For example, cudatext https://sourceforge.net/projects/cudatext/files/ is quite capable, it's only a 4.2 MB pkg which only needs libgtk2.0-0 (>= 2.20.0), python3 (>= 3.5) and they're probably already installed, so if you download the pkg and then install it with
Code:
sudo apt install ./path/to/cudatext_1.165.4.0-1_gtk2_amd64.deb
you won't (hopefully) get any errors. I recommend the GTK version, since that one won't throw any dependency errors, like the qt one will probably do. IMHO, one should start using an IDE when one is able to take full advantage of its capabilities, otherwise you'll find yourself in frustration at times more often than not (been there, so I know what it's like). If you're in the process of learning how to code, and I assume you are after looking at your screenshot with that example from some book/tutorial - which I recognize, tho don't remember where I've seen it before (told you, been there), but I think is the Linux command line book by William Shotts, am I right? - then you don't need an IDE to do that, again, any text editor be it a terminal based one such as nano, or a GUI one like cudatext is more than enough.
 
This is a connected world, and thus it's almost given that installs mostly happen online, using package managers that handle dependencies and version control. Otherwise, you can't guarantee compatibility or completeness of your installs.

If I was running a completely offline install, I would likely download the Debian full DVD ISOs and just use them.
 
@Tolkem Thanks for your post, btw is Cudatext come with autocomplete feature ?
I'm not entirely sure whether you can enable it by default, however, there are a couple of plugins for that:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/cudatext/files/addons/plugins/ there are actually a few interesting ones in that list, specially check the LSP client plugin and python intellisense one.

EDIT: Yes, apparently it does, sorry, I don't use it for scripting, for that I prefer kate.

1654689755667.png
 
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Also, I just learned this:


Atom will die at the end of this year. Well, you could keep using it, but it will be hung out to dry.

I saw this and recalled this thread, so found it again via search. I'm not sure if this is worthy of a full 'news' submission, but if anyone else thinks it is then feel free to do so.
 

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