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On Gnome based systems you can install .deb files with gdebi instead of using the Ubuntu Software Center. What is the equivalent package on KDE using Kubuntu?

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    A package gdebi-kde exist for Trusty, Xenial and Artful, but unfortunately not for Bionic. In Plasma desktop, Discover should do the job. This might be useful: https://userbase.kde.org/Kubuntu/Advanced – mook765 Oct 06 '18 at 17:01
  • @mook765 - Discover doesn't tell you what dependencies are to be installed (unlike gdebi). – cipricus Feb 01 '20 at 00:12
  • You can use gdebi on Kubuntu, but not by means of the default Plasma file manager, called "Dolphin".

    If you open your Downloads folder in a different file manager, such as "Nautilus", you can install .deb files through gdebi.

    It is not recommended to set Nautilus as the default file manager in Kubuntu, but you can still use Nautilus or Thunar as a secondary file manager. (Nautilus has certain other features absent from Dolphin, such as "Open as Administrator" and "Open in Terminal", but that is beyond the scope of this discussion.)

    – shmu Mar 22 '21 at 14:56
  • The solution I offered in my previous comment is less than satisfactory, but there is a fix here that will make gedebi work. Tested on Kubuntu 21.04: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gdebi/+bug/1760910/comments/12. To read the fix in context: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gdebi/+bug/1760910 – shmu Apr 25 '21 at 09:27

2 Answers2

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I found the tool I was looking for it's called qapt-deb-installer

  • Please see https://askubuntu.com/questions/1100044/get-ok-message-when-installing-deb-with-apt-in-terminal-from-context-menu-or-cl and https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/448677/why-cant-sudo-apt-install-locate-a-deb-file. Apparently, qapt-deb-installer doesn't warn you if dependencies are not satisfied whereas installing via apt does. apt seems to be preferred over dpkg as well in this context. – DK Bose Dec 12 '18 at 04:18
  • Is there a Kubuntu-compatible installer for .deb packages that will tell you which dependencies were not satisfied? Apt on Kubuntu will tell you there are unsatisfied dependencies, but it doesn't tell you which ones they are. – shmu Jan 22 '20 at 16:42
  • @DKBose - qapt-deb-installer does tell that dependencies are not satisfied when the case, but doesn't say which ones. But at least it tells which supplementary dependencies are to be installed, something which Discover does not. – cipricus Feb 01 '20 at 00:19
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As a complementary answer in relation to other answers and comments:

  • Qapt Package Installer (qapt-deb-installer) is meant as similar to Gdebi, but, while it tells you when dependencies are missing, it doesn't list those missing dependencies.

enter image description here

On the other hand (like Gdebi) it tells you what supplementary dependencies are installed when executing a deb file.

enter image description here

Compared to gdebi, Discover is similar mostly in that it is able to install from deb files (unlike something like Synaptic or its KDE alternatives, Muon and Apper). But when it does, it doesn't tell you if and what dependencies are missing (it simply closes), and, even worse, it doesn't list the supplementary dependencies before installing them.


I would also suggest an alternative where, while the deb file is installed with apt in terminal (apt being the program that is run by Gdebi), the action is triggered with a GUI - namely Dolphin file manager - in two possible ways:

~ by associating the deb files with an "application" that would trigger our action, in fact just the desktop file ~/.local/share/applications/install-deb-terminal.desktop, created by us with the form

[Desktop Entry]
Name=APT in terminal
Comment=Install deb files in terminal with apt
Exec=konsole --hold -e sudo apt install %f
Icon=/usr/share/icons/breeze/mimetypes/22/application-x-deb.svg
Terminal=false
Type=Application
StartupNotify=true
Categories=System;

but that will be seen by the system as a new application that could be associated to the deb file-type

enter image description here

~ or, by just creating a new context menu in Dolphin for deb files, triggering the same action, with the file ~/.local/share/kservices5/ServiceMenus/install-deb.desktop of the form

[Desktop Entry]

Actions=install
Icon=dialog-information
MimeType=application/vnd.debian.binary-package
ServiceTypes=KonqPopupMenu/Plugin
Type=Service
X-KDE-Priority=TopLevel


[Desktop Action install]
Exec=konsole --hold -e sudo apt install %f
Icon=/usr/share/icons/breeze/mimetypes/22/application-x-deb.svg
Name=Install with APT in terminal

enter image description here

I guess Dolphin qualifies as a GUI for our purpose. The rest is displayed in terminal - that is: missing dependencies, if the case,

enter image description here

or supplementary ones that need to be installed:

enter image description here

But we do not take any action in CLI ourselves, except entering the sudo password.

[Thanks to @DKBose I found this link where in a question I have presented this solution under a now dead account while I had the same username as now.]

cipricus
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