linux deb repo small improvements

[pirate486743186]

Platforms

Linux

Description

1. cache management

the way you set up the repo makes cache management more difficult. The package is 100MB that is frequently updated, so that quickly adds up.

apt autoclean doesn't work, because they are all present in the repo, since you never remove them. ~~apt autoremove doesn't work because they are mark as manually installed.~~ oups

Two possible solutions:

• Remove the old ones. So autoclean works
• Do it the way linux kernels are managed. Have a meta package that depends on the latest version. The meta package is manually installed and removed from the repo with each new version and autoclean works for it. The browser it self is automatically installed. This way autoremove works.

EDIT: You would need to rename the packages them selves with the version number for the second solution. It's easier to just remove the old ones from the repo. Right now, i'm manually deleting the old ones.

2. dependency to the key ring.

If some one want's to just test the browser, they have to also manually install the keyring. It should be a recommends, not a depends.

3. package the source also.

Since you already packaged the keyring, you could package together the source list too. So the installation instructions simply become just install this. This is done frequently.

[rebron]

cc: @wknapik

[wknapik]

1. cc @fmarier @oajara
2. We will eventually get rid of brave-keyring, until then it is required
3. I don't understand - do you mean to package browser sources? Those are available for download from the GitHub release page. Or do you mean the repo definition files? How would that package be installed? I think what you might be looking for already exists, in the form of https://salsa.debian.org/extrepo-team/extrepo, which already covers Brave.

[fmarier]

Removing old packages (maybe keeping the last X ones) makes sense to me. I don't know why we keep everything forever.

[ghost]

1. I think, you are the only ones i know, that just keep everything in the repo like OCD hoarders.
2. depends is a mandatory dependency, recommends is an optional dependency. The key isn't required for the browser to function. If you integrate the repo in the browser package, it means if you uninstall it, you also remove the repo with it. Or you just leave crap behind or deal with scripts so that this doesn't happen.
3. I mean the repo definition files (plus the key). You tell people, just install this little package and it will set up the repo. This is done often. I think it's better then just merging it into the browser package or just configuring it with a script.

[wknapik]

IMO anything that's published through official channels should remain available forever through those same channels (unless it becomes prohibitively expensive to keep it that way). I believe that's the case across platforms now.

[ghost]

@wknapik

split the repo in two. The normal one, with just the latest. And an archive one with all passed files.