You should be able to download the source package and install it using dpkg and then run `apt-get build-dep pkg_name` and that will resolve all building dependencies and then build the package out of source, something like `dpkg-deb --build /usr/src/pkg_name`. Granted I've never built packages this way, but it should work. Usually, if I've needed something newer, I've needed it out of SVN or something which is not a Debian source package anywhere yet. I've had good luck with checkinstall for those types of packages. You configure the source and instead of running `make install` you run `fakeroot checkinstall` and it will build the package for you. Usually, I unpack the package, do some cleanup, add dependencies and scripts and then rebuild it, but it sure make generating a base package easy.
There is also a site called backports.org which does a lot of this leg work for you if you want something in testing or sometimes unstable. I've never used this site either. As far as your question of running testing or stable, I'd stick with stable if you can, testing moves so much sometimes it can be a headache to keep up with all the changes. I do run testing on some production machines, but I try to update them once a week, sometime more to keep the headaches to a minimum. Robert On 6/28/07 11:06 PM, "Adrian Madrid" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Nathaniel, > > I'm new to running Ubuntu servers and I must say I really like it. I'm > running Dapper but I have rebuilt a couple of packages from newer > releases (monit and nginx so far) and it wasn't too bad. You can > download the sources with the debian control files from the Ubuntu > site and you get it compiled the Debian way. Again, I'm no Debian > expert but here are the steps I followed to get the latest monit > package: > > # get some needed packages for rebuilding > sudo apt-get install devscripts > # prepare dirs > mkdir -p ~/src ~/src/monit > cd ~/src/monit > # get package, diff and control files > wget > http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/m/monit/monit_4.8.1-2.1.dsc > wget > http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/m/monit/monit_4.8.1.orig.tar.gz > wget > http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/m/monit/monit_4.8.1-2.1.diff.gz > # extract package with diff and control files > dpkg-source -x monit_4.8.1-2.1.dsc > # try to rebuild > cd monit-4.8.1/ > sudo debuild -us -uc -b > # Install some missing dependencies for this package > sudo apt-get install devscripts install debhelper byacc flex cdbs automake1.9 > # try again, succesfully > sudo debuild -us -uc -b > cd .. > # install package > sudo dpkg -i monit_4.8.1-2.1_amd64.deb > > Please, if any of you know a better way, please pitch in. BTW, here > [1] are some great tutorials I have followed on how to setup an > Ubuntu/Debian server. It is mainly focused on a VPS but you can > probably figure out the differences with your setup (mainly RAM > issues, etc). > > Hope it helps, > > > Adrian Madrid > > [1] http://www.usefuljaja.com/ > > > On 6/28/07, Nathaniel Price <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> I'm going to be building a new webserver soon to replace my old, weary >> AMD K6-2 one. My current server runs debian, and I'm pretty pleased with >> how that works, so I was planning on using either the latest Debian >> stable or Ubuntu LTS (Dapper Drake, I think?) on the new one. I'd like >> to go with one of those options for two reasons; first, I don't have >> physical access to the hosting location very often which makes a real >> upgrade hard (at least, as far as I know how to do them), and second, I >> just don't like upgrading my servers very often, beyond updating >> packages for security/bugfix purposes. >> >> However, there are a couple of cases where I want to use a package that >> has been released for a later version of Ubuntu, or for Debian testing >> (I'm specifically thinking of the xcache package (PHP opcode cache), >> which is packaged for later releases). Is it possible/advisable to do >> this? Any recommendations for handling this sort of situation? Or would >> biting the bullet and running Debian testing or a later Ubuntu release >> work okay for this situation? Any general recommendations on the Debian >> vs. Ubuntu as a server OS, while I'm at it? >> >> Thanks in advance! >> >> -- >> Nathaniel Price >> "Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard disk?" >> >> -------------------- >> BYU Unix Users Group >> http://uug.byu.edu/ >> >> The opinions expressed in this message are the responsibility of their >> author. They are not endorsed by BYU, the BYU CS Department or BYU-UUG. >> ___________________________________________________________________ >> List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list >> > Robert LeBlanc BioAg Computer Support Brigham Young University [EMAIL PROTECTED] (801)422-1882 -------------------- BYU Unix Users Group http://uug.byu.edu/ The opinions expressed in this message are the responsibility of their author. They are not endorsed by BYU, the BYU CS Department or BYU-UUG. ___________________________________________________________________ List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list
