Re: Where do you get Virtualbox

[Erwan David]

Le 02/04/2022 à 06:17, Pankaj Jangid a écrit :

Dan Ritter  writes:


In any case, you seem to have answered your own question: Oracle
is the supplier of virtualbox. If you don't trust them, there
are many fine alternatives to virtualbox, most of which are
built on the  work of kvm, qemu or Xen.

To use USB devices inside a guest system, user is required to install
Oracle supplied binary deb packages. It will write to privileged
locations on the file system. I didn’t like that and discovered much
easier and light weight alternatives. I use ’qemu’.


I do not need it. Indded I only need it to use Visio (no I cannot use 
any alternative)

Re: Where do you get Virtualbox

[Pankaj Jangid]

Dan Ritter  writes:

> In any case, you seem to have answered your own question: Oracle
> is the supplier of virtualbox. If you don't trust them, there
> are many fine alternatives to virtualbox, most of which are
> built on the  work of kvm, qemu or Xen.

To use USB devices inside a guest system, user is required to install
Oracle supplied binary deb packages. It will write to privileged
locations on the file system. I didn’t like that and discovered much
easier and light weight alternatives. I use ’qemu’.

Re: Where do you get Virtualbox

[Nate Bargmann]

* On 2022 31 Mar 12:29 -0500, Greg Wooledge wrote:
> I'm not sure exactly why it's even being uploaded to unstable.  But I
> guess if some Debian developer wants to spend their time doing that,
> they're permitted.  Maybe they keep hoping that upstream will change
> their policy some day?  Or that a different corporation will buy the
> rights to it, and change the policy that way?  I don't know.

I have it installed through Bullseye Fast track.  I don't follow how
packages flow, but they get to fasttrack.debian.net by some means.

- Nate

-- 
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Re: Where do you get Virtualbox

[Greg Wooledge]

On Thu, Mar 31, 2022 at 06:57:04PM +0200, Erwan David wrote:
> Alas, you cannot always choose exactly what you use a must comprimise a
> little. For virtualbox one of my interrogations is that the package in sid
> is very good, is stable, but it never goes to testing. There ust be a
> reason, but I could not find it.

Start at .

After a few pages of unstable uploads, you get to

which has a link to


That page contains a bug number, so you can go to
 (manually constructing the URL) to read
more about that bug.

One of the things that may confuse some people is that they don't
understand what Debian testing actually *is*.  Some people think it's
a rolling release, and that they can run it to "get packages that 
are newer than the ones in stable, with a slight risk of bugs".  That
is NOT what it is.

Debian testing is the staging ground for the next stable release.  It's
the next stable release, being built in real time, warts and all.

A package that has been deemed unsuitable for stable will therefore
never go into testing.  It will never be part of a (new) stable release,
so there's no reason it should ever appear in testing.

I'm not sure exactly why it's even being uploaded to unstable.  But I
guess if some Debian developer wants to spend their time doing that,
they're permitted.  Maybe they keep hoping that upstream will change
their policy some day?  Or that a different corporation will buy the
rights to it, and change the policy that way?  I don't know.

Re: Where do you get Virtualbox

[Andrew M.A. Cater]

On Thu, Mar 31, 2022 at 06:57:04PM +0200, Erwan David wrote:
> Le 31/03/2022 à 15:57, The Wanderer a écrit :
> > For myself, the answer is quite simple: I don't. VirtualBox used to make
> > my life easier, but the combination of not being available in Debian
> > testing with the *reasons* why it isn't available there
> > (license-related, last time I checked, if I remember correctly) mean the
> > ways in which it used to make my life easier aren't worth the trouble of
> > getting it from somewhere else, at least not to me.
> > 
> > 
> > When running stable or testing, installing a package from sid is at
> > least mildly inadvisable - because it may pull in dependencies from sid,
> > thereby leading to your running not only a FrankenDebian but one which
> > is partly sid and therefore includes some of the risks that come with
> > running sid.
> > 
> > Installing a package from a third-party repository has its own risks,
> > and I no longer trust Oracle to do the right thing when it comes to
> > open-source software, so I can't recommend installing VirtualBox from
> > their repository.
> 
> 
> Alas, you cannot always choose exactly what you use a must comprimise a
> little. For virtualbox one of my interrogations is that the package in sid
> is very good, is stable, but it never goes to testing. There ust be a
> reason, but I could not find it.
> 
>

I think the reason virtualbox was removed from Debian stable and testing was
the attitude of upstream to patching and, possibly, licensing at one point.

https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/virtualbox also suggests python3 transition
issues and an openssl transition are in play.

As others have suggested, virt-manager is a very good substitute.

All the very best, as ever,

Andy Cater 

Re: Where do you get Virtualbox

[Erwan David]

Le 31/03/2022 à 15:57, The Wanderer a écrit :

For myself, the answer is quite simple: I don't. VirtualBox used to make
my life easier, but the combination of not being available in Debian
testing with the *reasons* why it isn't available there
(license-related, last time I checked, if I remember correctly) mean the
ways in which it used to make my life easier aren't worth the trouble of
getting it from somewhere else, at least not to me.


When running stable or testing, installing a package from sid is at
least mildly inadvisable - because it may pull in dependencies from sid,
thereby leading to your running not only a FrankenDebian but one which
is partly sid and therefore includes some of the risks that come with
running sid.

Installing a package from a third-party repository has its own risks,
and I no longer trust Oracle to do the right thing when it comes to
open-source software, so I can't recommend installing VirtualBox from
their repository.



Alas, you cannot always choose exactly what you use a must comprimise a 
little. For virtualbox one of my interrogations is that the package in 
sid is very good, is stable, but it never goes to testing. There ust be 
a reason, but I could not find it.

Re: Where do you get Virtualbox

[The Wanderer]

On 2022-03-31 at 09:30, Dan Ritter wrote:

> Erwan David wrote:
> 
>> virtualbox is available either in Sid, or on Oracl's virtualbox
>> repository. Where do you get it (I am on testing).
> 
> Running testing means you have to expect this sort of thing.

> In any case, you seem to have answered your own question: Oracle is
> the supplier of virtualbox. If you don't trust them, there are many
> fine alternatives to virtualbox, most of which are built on the  work
> of kvm, qemu or Xen.

I interpreted Erwan's post not as asking where to go to get VirtualBox,
but as sort of a poll: "when you need VirtualBox, to which (of the
available locations, two of which I've already listed) do you choose to
go to get it?".

For myself, the answer is quite simple: I don't. VirtualBox used to make
my life easier, but the combination of not being available in Debian
testing with the *reasons* why it isn't available there
(license-related, last time I checked, if I remember correctly) mean the
ways in which it used to make my life easier aren't worth the trouble of
getting it from somewhere else, at least not to me.


When running stable or testing, installing a package from sid is at
least mildly inadvisable - because it may pull in dependencies from sid,
thereby leading to your running not only a FrankenDebian but one which
is partly sid and therefore includes some of the risks that come with
running sid.

Installing a package from a third-party repository has its own risks,
and I no longer trust Oracle to do the right thing when it comes to
open-source software, so I can't recommend installing VirtualBox from
their repository.

That seems to leave no options for where to get it from, for anyone not
running sid.

-- 
   The Wanderer

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all
progress depends on the unreasonable man. -- George Bernard Shaw



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Re: Where do you get Virtualbox

[Dan Ritter]

Erwan David wrote: 
> virtualbox is available either in Sid, or on Oracl's virtualbox repository.
> Where do you get it (I am on testing).

Running testing means you have to expect this sort of thing.
People forget that near the end of each release cycle, when
testing is relatively quiet and nearly ready to become stable.

Running unstable is worse, but more people pay attention to the
name. Perhaps testing should be renamed 'wobbly' or 'squishy'.

If you are running a computer for purposes which are critical to
you, stable is what you want.

In any case, you seem to have answered your own question: Oracle
is the supplier of virtualbox. If you don't trust them, there
are many fine alternatives to virtualbox, most of which are
built on the  work of kvm, qemu or Xen.

-dsr-

Where do you get Virtualbox

[Erwan David]

virtualbox is available either in Sid, or on Oracl's virtualbox 
repository. Where do you get it (I am on testing).


--

Erwan